Bible Reading Marathon Record Attempt Ends in Failure as Man Nods Off
A British man has failed in his attempt to set a new world record, only making it through 24 hours straight in his attempt to read the Bible out loud before he started losing consciousness – and neither the books of Leviticus nor Numbers were to blame.
David Bathrust, 51, set off on his new world record attempt on Aug. 24, a Wednesday. By Thursday night, however, things started going awry for the accomplished reader during his feat at St. Mary's Church in Barnham in South England.
In order to break the current world record for reading out loud, which stands at just over 113 hours, the Englishman had to read for five days and nights. According to the Church Times publication, Bathurst was allowed 20-minute naps every four hours.
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Unfortunately, when Bathhurst started reading through the prophetic book of Jeremiah, his brain started to get the best of him.
"I rallied on Friday, but things really started to unravel on Friday night," Bathurst told Church Times. "I kept reading, but I was drifting in and out of consciousness."
Bathurst tried to push on with the Bible reading, but by Saturday paramedics had to be called in. What they told Bathurst, the gentleman already knew – he needed sleep.
Bathurst took the paramedics' suggestion and went to sleep for several hours before awaking Sunday morning to continue reading. He picked up right where he had left off in Jeremiah and continued through Revelation.
Despite not setting a new world record, Bathurst managed to raise nearly $4,000 for charity.
"I don’t feel disappointed, because there was nothing I could have done," Bathurst told Church Times.
The charities that will benefit are the Gambia Upcountry Development Charity and the Disasters Emergency Committee.
The longest marathon reading aloud is 113 hours 15 minutes, which was achieved by Deepak Sharma Bajagain of Nepal.
Bajagain read from Sept. 19 to 24 in 2008, according to Guinness World Records. The organization did not note what text(s) Bajagain read.
