Filipino Athletes Attempt to Break Record 112-Hour Basketball Game for Charity

A group of 24 basketball players began an epic venture on Monday, attempting to break the world record of marathon basketball playing, which rests as one game played over 112 hours and 13 seconds. 

And you thought watching a Lakers game felt long. 

The Philippine Star reports 24 basketball enthusiasts are coming together on Monday in the Meralco Gym (Pasig City, Phillipines) in an attempt to break a remarkable world record held by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, which played 112 hours and 13 seconds of basketball over four days in 2012, via Guinness.

You can imagine most are involved for the usual reasons anyone embarks on a world-record breaking endeavor: the joy of camaraderie, proving personal worth through extreme measures and Internet glory. 

However, this particular record-breaking attempt is for far better reasons. 

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The Philippine Basketball Marathon is under project “Bounce Back Phl” which aims to raise funds to be donated to Gawad Kalinga’s “Operation Walang Iwanan” with its mission to build a basketball marathon village in an area in Negros Occidental that was devastated by Yolanda (internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan).

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The report provides a link where those interested can make donations to the great cause. And, for those who like their basketball games extremely long, you can take a gander at the feat at the YouTube channel, which is airing what looks to be a live feed of the event. 

It makes sense, because, as the host of the following ANC report states, "The camera must have an uninterrupted view of everybody involved."

In that video, which aired before the final 24 players were chosen, Larry Macapanpan, who is described as a participant, states the following on playing for four days:

"It's going to be very difficult, because the problem with the usual training and the games that we play lasts us for two hours, maybe three hours at the most." Macapanpan continues, "That's where the mental toughness comes in."

We imagine any success will garner the kind of attention and donations needed for the area. Fortunately, the attempt is already causing some buzz, featuring in a brief segment on NBA TV's The Starters: 

ABS-CBNNews.com's TJ Manotoc reported prior to the event's start on the remarkable number of applicants wanting to get in on the potential record: "From 330,000 applicants, the number was trimmed down to 100 for formal try-outs followed by more cuts."

Manotoc continues with the rules of the contest: "There should be five on five players on the court at any point during the record-breaking attempt. Players not involved in the play should stay in the courtside at all times where they can sleep and eat, except for five-minute comfort breaks and medical emergencies."

The Philippine Star notes that there are some players familiar with such an endeavor on the rosters. Among the players, which include a, "PE teacher, a dentist, an engineer, a recording artist and couples of college students," Chuck Williams, Jeffrey Moore and Tony Tatar will also join in on the exhausting fun. 

Those three have the distinction of being a part of the American team that set the current record. Hopefully they can lay claim to both the new and former marathon in a few day's time. 

From a relatively small gym, lofty dreams and admirable attempts are at play. There is no doubt that many of those legs will shake and wobble from exhaustion in time. 

Playing over 112 hours, no matter how many breaks are granted, is an outrageous enterprise. The task is daunting, but as those in Missouri proved, not impossible. 

Perhaps it might help those weary limbs to know that we are all pulling for them. 

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