If you thought a 12-hour video game marathon was intense, five gamers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. blew past that time on their way to setting a new Guinness World Record for longest video game marathon on a racing game. Unbelievably, these five individuals played Forza Motorsport 6 in a staggering 48 hours, 29 minutes, and 21 seconds.

Surviving solely on sweets, soft drinks, energy drinks, and power naps, the quintet of gamers did their best Le Mans 24 Hours impersonation by racing the Ford GT at the Le Sarthe circuit for double the time it takes for the actual race to be completed. In doing so, they managed to cover an incredible 41,004 kilometers (25,476 miles), completing 3,015 laps in the process with each gamer clocking in an average of 603 laps. For comparison’s sake, the earth’s circumference is 40,075 kilometers (24,901) miles, so basically these gamers covered more ground with the virtual Ford GT in Forza 6 than the circumference of the planet. In the process of setting the world record, the gamers consumed over three kilos of candy (6.6 pounds), 32 energy drinks, 47 soft drinks, and 146 bottles of water.

All the hard work – yes, these gamers put in some serious work to achieve this record – ultimately paid off as no less than Lena Kehlmann, the official adjudicator of the Guinness World Records, recognized the startling feat as a “superlative effort” on the part of the new record holders. It’s hard not to argue against Kuhlmann’s assessment, especially when you consider that in setting the new record, the gamers had to go all-out on beating the old one, which they did by only 28 minutes.

It’s unclear if these five individuals won anything other than the distinction of being a Guinness World Record holder. If I were in their place, prizes would be have been the last thing on my mind after going through that gruelling marathon. I would’ve asked for a bed and some comfortable pillows too.

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Why it matters

I know I’ve gotten myself into these video game marathons a time or two, but those sessions only lasted no more than six hours before my eyes pleaded for a break. I can’t even begin to imagine going for 24 hours or straight, let alone double that time. So yes, my eternal respect goes to these five men for putting themselves through something like that.

It takes a certain amount of will power and an insane amount of free time to go two full days playing video games. I know they had power naps in between to recharge their batteries but even that doesn’t diminish the achievement that they made. I just hope that they got something more out of it than a world record, although that in itself is cool enough to become a conversation starter in any place.

I don’t know if this record is going to be broken anytime soon nor do I wish anybody to even try it without being prepared for the consequences that come with it. Maybe some day a group of gamers can go three straight days playing a video game. Maybe it’s these five people too who will end up breaking their own record. I just don’t subscribe to it, nor will I encourage them to make a run at breaking their own record until they get enough rest to get their body’s back to functioning the way they’re supposed to function.

Until then, savor the record and get some sleep, fellas. You all earned it.