The attempt has been confirmed to take place at the University of East Anglia in Norfolk, UK starting at 12 Noon on Sat 11th September 2021 and finish shortly after 07:43 on 17th September. The whole event will be filmed for evidence submission to Guinness and it will be streamed online for people to watch on Mark’s YouTube Channel.
Get your free tickets here (available from noon on 1st June 2021)
The existing Guinness world record for the longest marathon lecture stands at 139hrs 42mins and 56sec. Mark has been preparing hard for his attempt to smash the record. During the Norwich Science Festival in October 2019, he went two nights without sleep and to test his ability to lecture when sleep deprived, after 58 hours awake performed a one hour lecture. During October 2020 he gave a 24 hour lecture and trialled various techniques for keeping his voice in condition. All is on target and he is now preparing the 140 hours of lecture material.
Record Attempt Diet
The proper diet is critical to the success of the event so Mark has been working with nutritional advisor Lorna Taylor from Phoenix Gym who has constructed a meal plan for the entire attempt. The day before the attempt is the ‘refeed’ day where Mark will have a planned increase in calories to give his body a temporary respite from calorie restriction. During the attempt the meals will be mashed up for faster digestion and the plan is little and often because too much food in one go will make him sleepy and that is not what he needs! If you are interested in the full diet, then it is reproduced here.