Rocky run turned the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps into a record-setting crowd on Friday, when 570 people dressed as Rocky Balboa established a Guinness World Record. Andy Glass, the adjudicator who came from Brooklyn to verify it, said the attempt was built around the film character’s staying power and the city that embraced him.
570 Rockys on 72 Steps
The final official number was 570, far above the minimum 250 participants required. That gap is the difference between a symbolic turnout and a margin that left no doubt the attempt cleared the threshold. Participants in gray sweatsuits, black high-top sneakers and black knit hats ran or walked the 72 steps in groups of 100 before raising their fists near the Rocky statue.
Andy Glass and the Rules
Glass said the outfit had to include four parts: a gray hoodie, gray sweatpants, a black-knit hat and black high-top Converse-style shoes. “Sure, it’s about the films and the character that inspires so many people,” he said. “But to see the people behind it all is the part that is so amazing to see.”
He also set out the test in plain numbers: “Rocky’s spirit is unbreakable. Philly’s spirit is unbreakable,” he said during the attempt, then added, “[Rocky] went the distance. Right? Let’s see if Philly goes the distance today.” The counting standard mattered here because the record was not about a costume lookalike crowd in general; it depended on each person meeting the full outfit requirement before the total could stand.
50th Anniversary Push
The event marked the 50th anniversary of Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 film Rocky, the movie that turned Stallone into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and made Rocky one of Philadelphia’s most beloved cultural icons. Glass said, “Records are made to be broken,” leaving the record open to challenge, but the result on Friday belongs to Philadelphia for now.
