He was nearly forced to abandon the effort, but Mineola resident Craig Pinto remained true to his task in setting an unofficial world record of kicking 1,000 field goals in 24 hours on Oct. 9.
Guinness World Records must review the videotape to verify the record as an official, but Pinto hit the mark – striking each ball from 40 yards out.
“At one point, I really thought I was injured,” the former Hofstra University place kicker said. “It felt like I had something wrong with my knee and we thought we were going to have to stop the event.”
Pinto, 33, went after the record knowing that he had a partially torn labrum – a thick tissue of cartilage attached to the hip joint – in his planting leg.
His motivation was to gain support for Kicking 4 Celiac Foundation, formed to raise money for scholarships for college students who, like him, suffer from Celiac, a genetic digestive disorder and require gluten-free diets.
Starting his marathon goal-kicking session at 7 a.m. on the new football field at Teddy Roosevelt Park in Oyster Bay, Pinto successfully sent more than 500 balls sailing through the uprights by noon.
“I was trying to pace myself so I would be at least halfway done. I knew the end for the day was going to be a struggle,” he recalled.
It was one year ago that Pinto set a Guinness World Record of kicking 717 field goals in 12 hours. But that was on a much more temperate day, nowhere near the 80-degree weather he endured this time around.
And last Sunday, he was frequently off the mark in making his 40-yard attempts from left-, center- and right-hash mark positions on the field as required for the record.
“It was a bad day to be off. I missed 500 kicks. I took 1,500 kicks to make 1,000,” said Pinto, who also played briefly for the New Jersey Revolution, a professional indoor football team.
The effort took its toll on him, and the aid of a physical therapist friend who treated him during breaks in the action proved essential. Pinto also credits preparatory therapy he received at Central Island Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Mineola with helping him to reach his goal.
But late in the day, the goal became a test of his psychological endurance.
“I hit a wall late in the afternoon at around 700 [field goals]. I was cramped up. It was difficult to get the rest of them done,” Pinto said. “It became a more mental challenge at the end of the day.”
He coped with periods of nausea. He drank water and Gatorade, and nourished himself with “a lot of bananas,” almonds, fruit bars and protein bars – all gluten-free, as his diet requires.
Around 10 p.m., after 15 hours on the field, he kicked the 1,000th field goal.
“I didn’t have enough energy to celebrate. I just hunched over. It was really a lot, physically and mentally,” he said
On Wednesday, after his second trip to the doctor’s office in the intervening days, he said he was feeling “okay,” although he couldn’t raise his left kicking leg to a 90-degree position. But after a week’s worth of physical therapy, Pinto said his body was getting back to normal.
With two world records to his credit, Pinto, who played last season for Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club, said he’s hanging up his spikes.
“Having tears in certain body parts, it’s not smart for me to keep doing this,” he said.
Pinto had no sponsors for the event on Sunday. But he’s hoping when his effort is officially recognized as Guinness World Record, the resulting publicity will generate donations to his foundation at www.kicking4celiac.org.
The foundation is a full-time occupation for Pinto, but he’ll soon be independently producing an allergy-free, gluten-free protein bar to be dubbed Freebar
His new company, Allergy Free Bar, will produce the bars in San Diego and initially will be promoting the bar online.
Next year, Pinto is planning a less strenuous group event to raise money to enable college students to eat gluten-free food in his one-man battle against Celiac disease.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204
