Ten local curlers with staying power are vying for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The members of the Campbell River Curling Club are determined to break a Guinness World Record for the longest marathon curling game. Their endurance game begins Thursday Oct. 11 at 8 a.m.
The record, currently held by the Dumfries Curling Club in Scotland, is 61 hours, 39 minutes and 33 seconds and was set this year in March.
“It’s a great challenge for these 10 local curlers to try to bring back the record to Canada,” says Susanne Grundison co-chair of the event. Before Scotland laid claim to the record it was held by curlers in Coaldale, Alberta.
The 10 players are: Cody Hall, Andrew Veldhuis, Trevor McClung, Paul Mansueto, Rhys Mansueto, Ed Mullen, Mike Fowler, Paul Miller, Cliff Carr-Hilton and John LaPointe.
They must curl a continuous game, four per side with two players rotating in.
Each player will get a two-hour break every eight hours and they are not permitted to leave a designated area. “These 10 curlers have been working hard to get ready for this challenge and have been collecting pledges to give to charity,” Grundison says.
The event coincides with a Charity Bonspiel which begins Friday Oct. 12. Up to 24 teams will be competing for cash for five local charities including: Campbell River Hospital Foundation, Campbell River Hospice Society, Campbell River and North Island Transition Society, Campbell River Head Injury Society and the local chapter of the SPCA.
To enter a team in the bonspiel call Susan Johnson at the curling club at 250-287-4200. The cost to enter a team is $200 plus a donation to the food bank. There will be a salmon BBQ on Friday night and a big Italian banquet on Saturday night.
“We have had wonderful support from Grieg Seafood, Save on Foods, Rosebowl Restaurant, Royal Coachman, Tyee Chev Olds, Fusilli Grill, RBC, and Harris Nissan. It’s been truly great how the community has come together,” Grundison says.