48 hours The world's longest petanque marathon was completed in Rochester, Michigan. We began at 5:00 p.m. on Friday - May 23rd and played petanque continuously until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday - May 25th.
The day (for me at least) began with the completion of the scoreboards with clocks for the two pistes. Then after putting my 4 dogs in their kennels (1 a guest from James and Cheryl) I drove out to the Detroit Airport to pick up Juan and Alex who flew in from Florida.
Arriving at Halbac Field in Rochester, Michigan at around 2:00 p.m., we met up with our fellow participants: Erin (California); Joe Z.; Ian; Mamary C. (Pittsburgh); James H. and Cheryl D.; Cyrille D.; Ziggy (Chicago); and Michael R. along with out brave volunteers: David R. who is a whiz at anything electronic (working the digital WiFi feeds and the web chats and Blogging); Denise (getting the sponsors in line; talking to the public; making sure people's food orders were in place; getting the food; plus a billion other things!) Mike and Cathy Ardelean (working the visitors; showing the sport to guests; operating the side event raffles and games).
There was plenty going on: setting up the courts, pitching the tents, getting the Digital Camera and VHS cameras ready at HQ; talking to inquisitive onlookers gathered at the field; putting up the various banners; and lots and lots of fielding of questions.
Then we set-up the teams. We would have two games running at the same time. Each team composed of three players, one of which was designated an alternate and who could get rest while the others were playing and keeping petanque playing continuously.
The teams:
Ian; Mamary and Juan verses Erin; Joe and Alex
James; Cheryl and Jeff verses Cyrille; Michael and Ziggy
The playing schedules were composed around an 8 hours playing and 4 hours rest mode. The Deemed alternate could take their rest but be in proximity to the courts. In this way, during the nights we could alternate in for some rest while the others played.
I don't really need to go into the day time - pretty standard stuff for anyone who has played 16 hours of petanque in daylight. The night, however was particularly special. Think of nearly total darkness except for a couple of construction task lights which cast 45 degrees of light on to a swath of piste. Now add to this 40 degrees as the temperature. Let's just say there were PLENTY OF LAUGHS on the piste during those hours!
But as the sun rose at 7 am each morning (Sat. & Sun) - we felt newly invigorated for the day ahead. And with Denise bringing in the warm bagels and coffee - a bit revived as well.
Some of the more memorable moments:
David with a blanket wrapped around himself, in a total exhausted state
after sleeping inside a cold van - diligently getting up to check on the digital
feeds and blogs at 5am.
Mamary shouting out something that sounded like "Hakuna Matata Blo blah blo
blaah" every now and again.
The usual petanque traditional end-of-game hanshakes turning into the far
easier: twin finger pointing "aaayyyyy" signal.
Erin stacking used "Full Throttle" boxes beneath her as insulation against the chilly ground during rest times.
Eating hot pizza on the court with dusty hands but not caring because the food was so warm and the night so cold.
Reports of deer crossing the field at night.
David moving his laptop around the field on 500 foot extension cords to capture some WiFi signals.
Ziggy, rarely losing, stating during a game: "I would die for one point"
During an 8 hours shift in the middle of the night, crack'n jokes about what foods would have uncomfortable results for players ... such as Chips Ahoy and cocacola (expletives won't be typed here)
Exhaustion apparent when Cyrille doesn't realize a boule is hanging from the end of his boule magnet at 3 a.m.
Whevever anyone was dragging the heavy steel mesh and chained "court groomer" around and the others helpfully shouted "you missed a spot" or offered a friendly "HEE HAW" donkey sound...
Cheryl wrapped head to toe in a dark blanket, sitting courtside at 6am, with James and I commenting on what an honor it was to have Emperor Palpatine come watch us. (Starwars)
The second evening, the schedule was adapted to a better system: 3
hours of playing, and 6 of rest. In this way we'd still be getting up to a 40
degree evening (let's say playing the 2am to 5am shift) but at least this time
the overhead field lights offered easier illumination.
By 9:10 a.m. we had passed the World Record set by Germany at 40 hours and 9 minutes. But to merely break the record wasn't enough, we had to smash it! So we soldiered on until 5pm, making the 48 hour mark.
Then it was all I could think about to get home for a hot cleansing shower and a night's sleep.
Congrats to all of my fellow players and volunteers! Good work!
How about we break it again next year in Sonoma, California; Miami, Florida or Chicago, Illinois?
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