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'Yard-Man' mows over his own record
By Meriah Doty
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- They call him "Yard-Man." And no, he's not a new character in "The Matrix Reloaded." He's Brad Hauter, Indiana native, father, soccer coach, Guinness Book World Record holder and a man on a mission to beautify America. Hauter's been driving a lawnmower across the U.S. since March 19 when his journey began in San Francisco. His mission has been to top his own world record which he set in 1999. According to his preliminary calculations, he has already done just that. "I'm pretty sure we're over. I think we crossed that pulling into Atlanta," Hauter said Thursday, admitting he had not yet checked the mileage for that day. "Now its just waiting for authentication." He explained that the people from Guinness will make the final judgment based on mileage reports recorded by a global positioning system. He predicted when he makes his final mow to New York the broken record will be made official. Hauter, 37, said his main focus this time across the U.S. is to break the record of funds raised for Keep America Beautiful -- a nonprofit organization aimed at cleaning up and beautifying communities. "The motivation is not the Guinness record," Hauter said. "The record we really want to beat is the $200,000 we raised last time." He also wants his message to permeate communities across the U.S. Each place Hauter stops off, he leads a cleanup. After unofficially breaking his lawnmowing record at Centennial Park in Atlanta, he headed over to Oakland Cemetery a few miles away to pick up trash along with other community volunteers.
"I was taught, like I'm trying to teach my kids, to pick up after yourself," Hauter explained. "If you use something put it away when you're done. Those lessons never stuck when I was a kid. My parents tried to beat it into my head. Somewhere through that process I developed a passion for the environment." He has run into a few bobbles along the way including his unofficial record-breaking day Thursday, when an incessant drizzle of rain most likely kept press and onlookers indoors. But rain does not stop "Yard-Man" Hauter. And neither did an episode where his mower was stolen in San Antonio on Easter Sunday. "This entire trailer was gone. They found it about 15 hours later dumped along the side of the road," Hauter said. "We got the truck and trailer back, but our Yard-Man mowers, all of our personal stuff and about $7,000 worth of T-shirts were stolen." He commended Wal-Mart, which sells Yard-Man products, for replacing his mower and getting him back to his 25 mph maximum speed. Hauter's next stop is Memphis. And for those of you on the East Coast, keep your ears geared toward that mower motor sound -- he might be cleaning up a city park, vacant lot or playground near you. Ultimately "Yard-Man" said he just wants to make "a softer human footprint on the ecosystem."
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