If you felt the ground shake on Monday morning, it wasn’t an earthquake. It was the sensation of thousands of Californians jumping rope simultaneously in an effort to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

At 9 a.m. more than 300 schools and businesses participated in Jamba Jump Day, an event in which people of all ages jumped rope for 10 minutes in order to set the record for The Most People Jumping/Skipping Rope at the Same Time, a title currently held by Australia, which broke the record in 2008 with 59,000 people jumping rope at once.

The California Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, which partnered with Jamba Juice to sponsor the event, estimates that 80,000 Californians jumped into the record books on Monday morning in the fundraising event for the American Heart Association.

All 80,000 names will not appear in the Guinness Book of World Records if the record was indeed smashed, but the schools they represent will, which means some local schools are in contention for getting their name immortalized – until the record is broken again.

More than 1,500 students at Krey Elementary and Bristow Middle schools in Brentwood and Lone Tree Elementary School in Antioch participated in the event.

Former NFL pro Anthony Trucks was on hand for the Krey Elementary event, where organizers estimate that 700 students participated. Trucks, a graduate of Antioch High School, helped warm the students up prior to their record breaking attempt and then bravely walked through the sea of students during the jump to motivate and cheer on the kids.

“This is a really important program that promotes healthy living,” Trucks said. “A lot of kids don’t get a lot of physical activity, but now they see that even jumping rope can be fun. The kids were a little rambunctious, but they brought a lot of good energy and I think they will play a part in breaking the record.”

Krey fourth-grader Caren Marciel said there were a lot of perks to participating in Jump Day. “It’s a lot of fun to be outside, and it’s good for us to be outside getting healthy. And we’re doing it to raise money for people with heart problems so that they can get better.”

And what about helping set a world record? “Oh, that’s really cool,” she said. “I hope we beat it.”

Krey’s Jump Day organizer Lisa Little said she’s hopeful of the student’s chances: “The kids look forward to Jump Rope for Heart every year, but when they heard that they had a chance to be in the Guinness Book of World Records, they just flipped. To be official we have to send video and photos to document our school’s effort. To qualify, the kids had to jump for three straight minutes, taking only 10 second breaks if they needed a quick rest, so I’m not sure how many of our students will qualify in the end – we’ll have to review the tape – but they’re all winners. We’re so proud of our Coyotes.”

Krey Principal Brian Jones agreed: “The kids have been really excited about Jump Day, and it seems like everyone had a good time. They all got to unite as a school to break the record, so it was great to have the whole school come together as a team. And while it’s cool to make an attempt to beat a world record, the best thing about this event is that we’re raising money for the American Heart Association.”

Across town at Bristow, 168 students jumped rope in the school’s gym. Student Allyson Spears said the energy was contagious and everyone was having fun, even though a lot of students were surprised how jumping rope for 10 minutes can be exhausting.

While the Bears were bouncing at Bristow, approximately 760 Leopards were leaping at Lone Tree Elementary School. First-grade teacher Kelly Minor said students had been practicing for weeks leading up to Jump Day.

“It was heartwarming to see my little first-graders out there huffing and puffing,” Minor said. “They wanted to be a part of breaking this record so bad. Their little faces were red from the cold, but they didn’t want to give up even though they were getting tired. I teared up a little watching them. They were cheering each other on and encouraging each other to keep going. It was a good lesson in perseverance. I’m proud of all the kids. They did a great job.”

Event organizers have until today, Feb. 5, to submit their video and photographs as evidence of participation. The judges at Guinness World Records will verify the numbers and announce their findings in March.