Rush family Hungry Hungry Hippos record run clocks 3.75 seconds
David Rush, his wife and two sons cleared Hungry Hungry Hippos in 3.75 seconds in a Guinness-certified four-person attempt.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
The Rush family Hungry Hungry Hippos record came down to 3.75 seconds. UPI reported that Idaho record-breaker David Rush, his wife Jennifer and sons Jeremy and Peter cleared the game at that speed in a four-person attempt made in November 2025.
UPI reported on Aug. 3, 2026, that Guinness World Records had certified the result as the fastest time to clear a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos by a team of four. The benchmark cited by UPI was 4.833 seconds, putting the Rushes’ time 1.083 seconds below it.
How did the Rush family set the Hungry Hungry Hippos record?
This was not a free-for-all with flying marbles. Rush outlined the conditions for the attempt in an online post cited by UPI, with every part of the familiar tabletop game tightly controlled.
- The game had to be an unmodified, licensed Hungry Hungry Hippos set.
- It had to sit on a flat table.
- Each player’s hands had to begin flat.
- Each player could use only one finger to trigger a hippo.
- Changing fingers invalidated the attempt, and a ball falling off the edge meant starting again.
The title is specific to a four-person team, a distinction that matters when comparing fast games. Guinness World Records’ content hub separately lists Peter and David Rush as holders of a two-person Hungry Hungry Hippos record, with a time of 5.80 seconds in Boise, Idaho, on Nov. 12, 2025.
That two-player mark and the family’s four-player result are separate categories, so their times are not competing for the same title. Guinness also says its record information can change daily, meaning the reported certification reflects the standing described at the time.
For David Rush, the family run carried another milestone. UPI reported that Rush said the four-person title was his 200th concurrently held Guinness World Records title, and that he was the third person to reach that total.
UPI’s report includes video of the family’s attempt. The reported result offers a quick reminder that the plastic hippos may be built for a children’s game, but a record attempt leaves little room for a stray ball or an extra finger.
This story draws on original reporting from UPI.