When March Madness arrives in St. Louis for the NCAA Regionals at the Edward Jones Dome, 24 basketball players across the street will be vying for their place in the Guinness Book of World Records while at the same time, helping Joplin, Mo.
From Wednesday, March 21 until Sunday, March 25, twenty four men will gather at the Downtown Missouri Athletic Club to play a single game of basketball for over 110 hours, the equivalent of 4.5 days. The game will challenge the Guinness World Record for the Longest Marathon Basketball Game ever played. These players are raising money for survivors of the tornado which occurred last May in Joplin, MO.
“Let’s be honest,” stated event co-producer/player Chuck Williams, “this amount of time doing anything is crazy and it’s going to be physically and mentally challenging to play basketball this long. But what we are going to experience is nothing compared to horrors thrust on the People of Joplin last Spring. The 32 minutes of hell while the tornado was on the ground must have seemed like 110 hours to them. We’re honored to give an assist.”
The game will tip-off at 5am on Wednesday, March 21. The final whistle will blow on Sunday, March 25 at approximately 7pm. There will be no time-outs. Play will be continuous. Twenty-four players will participate in the ultra-marathon event. Twelve players will play on each team.