Iron Range Man Attempts World Record For Playing Accordion While Running A 5K
If anyone can accomplish this, it's the self-described "Overpopulated One Band Band" from Palo. Organizers of the All Class Reunion in Chisholm have added a Guinness Book of World Records attempt to their schedule.
Palo, Minnesota native Steve "Sisu" Solkela will run the 5K that's scheduled on Saturday, August 6 as part of the All Class Reunion events in the Iron Range town. What'll set him apart from the rest of the runners is that he plans on running that 5K entirely while playing an accordion. If he's successful, he'll end up establishing the World Record and the honor will reside with him.
Solkela has built up quite the name for himself in a relatively short amount of time - all while fully-embracing his Minnesota and Finnish heritage. In fact, you could say that his entertainment style is built entirely around those personas: a self-described "creative performer with a extroverted dominant personality" that's a little bit of humor, and a whole lot of "Northland" entertainment.
While Solkela takes his entertaining stage show on the road, he's also released two albums and has an active Youtube channel where he releases funny videos to go along with his song compositions.
Here's a sample of some of his more local videos:
"The Buhl Water Song"
"The Ely Song"
"Minnesota Swamps":
"Iron Ore":
But back to the Guinness World Record attempt. This isn't Solkela's first attempt at doing something like his. His Youtube channel is full of stunts where music meets physical activities.
Steve Solkela's attempt to set the Guinness World Record for playing an accordion while running/participating in a 5K will happen Saturday, August 6 - 9:00 AM in Chisholm - starting at the Kiwanis Park at the corner of Central Avenue and Lake Street.