Londonderry, Ireland - While Ireland is hardly the biggest country on Earth, when traveling on a unicycle, it's quite the distance from top-to-bottom. Yet, this is exactly what Eamonn Keaveney managed to do!

When someone goes for a world record, there is a general expectation that the attempt will be somewhat silly, and that certainly applies in the case of Eamonn Keaveney.

Having tucked a number of achievements and world records under his belt, this remarkable adventurer managed to do something that was equal parts impressive and patently absurd. This is the story of the fastest crossing of Ireland by unicycle on record.

Eamonn Keaveney has been awarded the world record for the fastest crossing of Ireland by unicycle by Guinness World Records. The attempt was extraordinary, beginning in Mizen Head, Ireland's southernmost point, to Malin Head in the north, a few miles from Londonderry.

It wasn't Keaveney's first crazy world record attempt, either, having managed to complete the longest barefoot journey in 2016 (he traveled just shy of 1300 miles) and then climb ten mountains in ten days a few years later. In comparison, his latest record seems like child's play, but it was no laughing matter!

The unicycle journey took him a total distance of 308 miles, which he managed to complete in only five days, five hours, and 23 minutes. Through completing this most remarkable of challenges, Keaveney managed to raise nearly $6500 for the charity Simon Communities of Ireland.

Before deciding to set out on the journey, Eamonn Keaveney had actually never ridden a unicycle before. As a result, he spent a few weeks learning how to ride before starting the attempt and continued to practice until he could reach at least 60 miles in a day.

It was a tricky process and difficult to get used to – after all, the unicycle is hardly the world's easiest vehicle.

As he explained: "You steer through the seat, so they are much chunkier and not as ergonomically designed as bicycle seats. You also can't stand up and lean on the handlebars like you can on a bike, and you can't freewheel, so you don't even get to enjoy going downhill!"

Persistence was the most important virtue throughout his remarkable world record attempt. He had to push through well over 60 miles a day despite riding something that was extremely uncomfortable and caused some pretty nasty side effects on his body.

Throughout the journey, Eamonn Keaveney had to apply lots of anti-chafing cream and wear incredibly high-quality cycling shorts, as the chafing was legendary. Worse, though, was his left ankle, which ended up swelling like a balloon and being extremely painful. Keaveney described it as being "like torture."

To complete the effort, he established how long he needed to get it done and figured out where he needed to stop each day to succeed in getting the record. This was difficult, however, as it meant that no matter what, he needed to reach his next goal before he could stop and rest.

"It was sometimes hard toward the end of the day to force myself up onto the unicycle for those last few miles," he said to Guinness World Records. "It took sweat and blood to achieve it, and it's amazing to be able to say to myself that I actually managed to do it."

"I'm immensely appreciative of all the support I got, between donations, well-wishers, witnesses, and my amazing one-person support crew, Méidhbhín. There's only one name on the record certificate, but a huge number of people helped me out, and it wouldn't have been possible without them."

There are few people who could have managed what Eamonn Keaveney did, making his achievement more historic than you would have thought. After all, most of us could barely even get on a unicycle, let alone ride across a country on it!