We sometimes hear about marathon gaming sessions ending in disaster, but here’s one that didn’t.
Joe Kelly of Cheltenham, U.K., played Minecraft for 35 hours in an effort to to break the Guinness World Record for the longest video game marathon of Minecraft, currently held by Martin Fornleitner of Austria, who played for 24 hours and 10 minutes back in 2011. Kelly has sent off proof of his endeavors and is now awaiting confirmation from Guinness as to whether he’s officially broken the record.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1820703,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"C"}']Kelly was also raising money for Cancer Research U.K. He managed his arduous gaming feat — raising a current total of $2,700 — without any caffeine and with only short 10- or 20-minute comfort breaks for health and safety reasons.
“There were no stimulants other than sugar and stubbornness,” Kelly told the BBC . “My shoulders didn’t ache, my back didn’t ache — the worst thing was my fingers. They hurt so much just from holding keyboard and mouse and being in clenched position for such a long time. Every little break I got I was flexing my fingers.”
Gamers have previously died during extreme playing sessions as sitting for extended periods of time significantly increases the chance of developing potentially fatal blood clots. Taking regular breaks — as Kelly did in this case — is the best way to combat the risks of engaging in sedentary activities. “Try to stop every hour or so and just walk around for a few minutes to keep the blood circulating,” Dr. Phil Ragno, the director of cardiovascular health and wellness at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., previously told ABC News.
