Claude P. Moore officially broke the record for the world’s largest rubber band ball on August 29, 2026, during a celebration at Belle Isle in Detroit. However, Guinness World Records didn’t publish the achievement until November 3.

From Childhood Hobby to World Record

Moore’s fascination with rubber bands began when he was a child battling hemophilia, a serious bleeding disorder that required frequent hospital visits. Making rubber band balls helped him pass the time. In middle school, he even built one as large as a chair – until a classmate stole it. But Moore wasn’t finished with rubber bands.

In 2015, after coworkers encouraged him to think bigger, he began building what would become the world’s largest rubber band ball.

As the creation grew, it eventually outgrew his garage and required its own storage unit. Over the next 11 years, Moore estimates he spent approximately $100,000 on materials and storage, with friends, family and coworkers helping along the way even though they thought he was crazy at first.

A Record That’s Hard to Wrap Your Head Around

The finished ball weighed in at 11,578-pounds (about the weight of an elephant), crushing the previous record of 9,032-pounds set by Joel Waul in Florida in 2008.

A crane crew helped weigh the massive creation at Belle Isle, where supporters gathered to celebrate Moore’s unusual accomplishment.

For Moore, the achievement is about more than rubber bands. He hopes to use the attention surrounding his record to advance a much bigger ambition: helping end world hunger, although he didn’t mention how he would do that.

And for anyone wondering why someone would devote more than a decade and six figures to building an enormous ball of rubber bands, Moore offered a simple explanation: “Because I said I would.” He added, “My word is everything.”

Moore’s achievement proves that even the simplest things can become extraordinary with enough patience, persistence and determination.