A group of teens in south-west Victoria have set a new world record for the “longest video game marathon playing a racing game.” Harry Twyford, James Hickman, Josh Alexander and Matt Smith, who all hail from Warrnambool, set the record while playing “Mario Kart.”
As ABC News reports, the four friends’ incredible “Mario Kart” marathon lasted 35 hours and 46 minutes, beating out the previous Guinness World Record of 30 hours, which was set by two German teenagers on an unidentified racing game.
According to Harry, 17, the idea was sparked by that great mother invention, boredom. “It was about six months ago, just a boring summer day. [We] got a Guinness book of records out, started reading and before you know it here we are,” he told the ABC.
Though official guidelines stated that only one person had to be playing at any given time, the guys all chose to play at once. They were given 10-minute breaks for every hour they played, with Harry deciding to save up his breaks in order to get some well-earned shuteye – this required him to play for 15 hours straight.
“We had a little training session about a month ago. We made it about 10 hours before one of us threw up and the rest of us fell asleep. So it wasn’t much fun,” Harry said.
In order to make sure the attempt was recognised, the team called in official witnesses to monitor their progress, which included Justices of Peace and even Warrnambool’s mayor. Their world record attempt also raised $500 dollars for a local charity.
