DARTS:Marathon pub darts attempt gets green light

FOUR pals aiming to smash their own world record by continuously playing darts for 30 hours have got the medical go-ahead they needed.

The attempt this weekend by Charvil friends Richard Saunders, Lee Hannant, Paul Taylor and Andy Brymer was in jeopardy because it is classified by Guinness World Records as a marathon, meaning qualified medical staff must be present at all times – and they have only just rounded up the last volunteer.

Mr Saunders, 41, a PR manager for Microsoft, joked: "We’re just about there now, finally – all witnesses and medics gained by various means of blackmail, physical threat and bribery!"

They first broke the record in 2007, playing darts under full competition rules for 25 hours and 34 minutes.

This time they are raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the Multiple Sclerosis Society during the event at The Waggon and Horses pub in Twyford tomorrow night (Friday) through to Saturday evening.

They expect to throw around 17,500 darts and walk nearly 18 miles from the oche to the dartboard and back between them during the attempt. They even have magnetised telescopic grabbers to retrieve fallen darts without bending over.

Mr Saunders said: "It wasn’t the arms so much as the back and legs. Every time a dart bounced off the board and you had to pick it up, it was agony."

Link: www.justgiving.com/worldrecorddartathon

Story By: The Reading Chronicle

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/articles/1/8308