CALGARY- Battered, bruised and exhausted, 38 players had plenty to celebrate as they broke their own Guinness World Record Wednesday afternoon for the world’s longest hockey game.
The buzzer sounded at 4:33 p.m., just over 246 hours after the puck first dropped at the Chestermere Recreation Centre. For good measure, the men were planning to continue playing until 6:33 p.m. in order to best their old record by two hours.
But they know their 11 day challenge doesn’t begin to compare to the challenge faced by children with serious and sometimes life-threatening illnesses.
Their goal: to raise $2 million for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and other local charities.
“Some kids going into the hospital for cancer, they can’t circle the calendar and say I’m going home,” said organizer and player Alex Halat. “But it’s nice to know we’re going to get out of here soon.”
As the players entered the final stretch, their spirits were boosted by two last minute donations, with Calgary’s Christ and Lamb families each donating $300,000.
“I can’t begin to tell you the emotions that ran through us out on that bench,” said Halat.
That pushed the total raised to almost $1.8 million. The donations continued to pour in and by the end of the game, the marathon had not only reached its fundraising goal, but surpassed it.
The game began with 40 players but two had to leave because of family emergencies.
That meant even longer shifts and less sleep for the remaining players, but in the end, they believe it was all worth it. Halat says people are already asking when they’ll do it again.
Fast Facts
- 290 Band-Aids used
- 1,100 foot massages
- 200 plus bags of ice
- 13 cases of tape
Injuries
- Six dislocated fingers
- Four broken bones
- Two ambulance trips to emergency
- infections
- foot fungus
- sore hips and groins
Click here if you’d like to donate to the Hockey Marathon for the Kids.
Check out the hockey marathon live blog here.
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