Four Irishmen broke the Guinness World Record for the longest marathon hug over the weekend.
Stephen Rattigan, Brian Cawley, Nicky Kearney, and Robert Tuomey got extra cosy for 30 hours in Market Square, Castlebar, Mayo beating the previous record of 25 hours and 15 minutes.
The ambitious Mayo men, all aged 32, raised over €6,500 for Pieta House and Western Care over the May Bank Holiday Weekend.
And they believe they owe it all to the support of the community in Mayo and around the world.
Stephen said: “We had wonderful support from everyone in the community.
“Even at 11pm a woman pulled up in a car and she said, ‘My daughter is a harp player, she’d like to play music for you,’ and she came out and played the harp from 11pm to 12am and the mother sang songs.
“The following day we had a guitar player, a musician Conor Ward that played the last hour.”
He also revealed that their donation page was inundated with messages and donations from the other side of the ocean.
He added: “They were saying they were watching from Boston and New York, and someone else said they were watching from LA. It actually got a lot of shares!”
The four had previously held the title in 2017 after they broke the 25 hour record in a hotel lobby while raising €4,500 for the Irish Cancer Society.
The record was later broken by 15 minutes by three students in Japan.
But Stephen admitted that the second time was a lot harder because it was done outside.
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He said: “This time, physically and mentally we hit some low points because you're standing for such a long time.
“It was a fairly cold morning, we had gloves on and what not. The cold was quite difficult.”
When asked if they’d want to do it again, Stephen said: “We all have agreed that if it’s broken again, we will never attempt it ever again. I’d never do it.
“The first time was great, we raised €4,500. This time it was like brilliant the turnout, the crowd, the support.
“But if they broke the record next week, my hats off to them.”
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According to the Guinness guidelines, the men were allowed a five minute rest period for every full hour they completed.
Stephen said: “What we tried to for the first 10 to 12 hours, we’d go for three hours and take a 15 minute break.
“As you can imagine, them 15 minutes just flew by because we had to quickly go to the bathroom, you needed to stretch your legs and body.”
Donations are still open until the end of May and if you’d like to help you can donate here.
All proceeds will be go to Western Care Association which supports people with autism and learning disabilities and mental health charity Pieta House.
Video Credit: Alison Laredo.
