COCHRANE MAN EYES RECORD FOR LONGEST SOCCER MATCH
Martin Parnell has survived 250 marathons, powered through a 24-hour game of lacrosse and endured a 67-hour round of netball.
The Cochrane resident, 56, figured his next feat for charity — a 42-hour soccer match — was finally something in his wheelhouse. Parnell is no stranger to the beautiful game, having spent plenty of time on the pitch as a kid in England. But his feet tell a different story.
Parnell recently dusted off his old, mouldy soccer boots in advance of this weekend’s challenge. “I’ve got two monster blisters,” he admitted Wednesday.
The man known as Marathon Martin will strap on his indoor trainers Friday when he joins members of the Cochrane Rangers Soccer Club to take a kick at setting another Guinness World Record for the longest game of five-a-side soccer.
The 42-hour game begins at 6 p.m. at the Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre in Cochrane. Two teams, each staffed with eight players, will go head-to-head until noon on Sunday.
Most of the players are in great shape, said Lucy Lovelock of the Rangers, who’s organizing the event. “It’s going to be more endurance of the mind than the body,” she added.
Players cannot leave the centre and are restricted to certain spots such as the washrooms, an eating area and four change rooms — two of which are designated to napping.
“We’re locked in,” said Parnell, adding leaving would disqualify the group from its bid for a record.
An adjudicator from Guinness’s New York office will be on site Sunday to verify whether the previous record of 40 hours is broken.
However, Parnell said records are secondary to raising money for Right to Play, an international charity that funds sport-based programs to help kids in communities facing war, poverty and disease.
Dubbed “Soccer Quest 42,” it’s the fifth event in Parnell’s “Quests for Kids” series, which aims to raise $1 million. About $405,000 has been donated since 2010. Donations can be made at cochranerangers.com