Longest ironing marathon: Gareth Sanders breaks Guinness World Records record (VIDEO) LONDON, UK -- Gareth Sanders, 28, a cleaning company manager, has broken the world record for non-stop ironing after ironing around 2,000 items and going flat-out for nearly 100 hours, thus setting the new world record for the Longest ironing marathon, according to the World Record Academy. Photo: Gareth Sanders has broken the world record for ironing continuously for 100 hours. (enlarge photo)
The Guinness World Records' record for the longest ironing marathon lasted 80 hours and was achieved by Janette Hastings (Australia) in Tumbarumba, New South Wales, Australia, between 1-4 April 2012. Janette ironed a whopping 1,157 items during this attempt, including jeans, shirts and shorts.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the e most people extreme ironing underwater; it is 173 and was achieved by de Waterman Diving Club (Netherlands) in Oss, Netherlands, on 28 March 2011. Ironing lasted 10 minutes. He was allowed five minutes of rest time for every hour of ironing but stored them up and gave himself 20-minute breaks to sleep every six hours.
He said: "It's been a lot harder than I expected. Sleep deprivation has been the hardest bit by far, as the longest I've slept has been about 12 minutes. "I'm a little bit croaky now and am absolutely shattered, but I'm running on adrenaline. We'll have a big celebration and then I think I'll need a good night's sleep."
Gareth, of Mangotsfield, Bristol, is used to pushing himself, having previously run a mile every hour for 100 miles.
The 28-year-old, who claims he "doesn't like ironing", believes he has raised more than £2,500 for Bristol charity Frank Water by ironing about 2,000 garments.
The previous ironing marathon Guinness World Records record-holder was Australian Janette Hastings who did 80 hours non-stop in 2012 and completed 1,157 items.
