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This Exists: Man Sets Record For Bowling Endurance

Bowling is fun. So much fun, in fact, that this thought has probably crossed more than a few minds: “I wish I could just bowl, and never have to do anything else.” Well, 24-year-old Stephen Shanabrook of Plano, Texas recently tested this idea at its logical extreme – he probably wouldn’t recommend it, but he will probably get a Guinness World Record out of it.

Shanabrook bowled all week, with minimal breaks (most continuous sleep he got: two hours), in an attempt to break the world record for consecutive bowling. Last night, he achieved the feat by finishing his streak at five days, five hours. For Shanabrook, the magic of the game didn’t exactly hold up over that whole time:

“I’ve always liked bowling, but you just get into a routine and it gets mundane,” Shanabrook said. “But then you’ve got to think back to why you started this in the first place, and that’s for the charities it is supporting.”

Yes, Shanabrook’s record run helped causes such as “Susan G. Komen for the [breast cancer] Cure, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the SPCA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Plano City House.” According to the linked writeup, there was a $25 donation fee to bowl next to Shanabrook as he tried for the record, so hopefully a whole lot of people did that.

Not everyone is impressed with Shanabrook’s accomplishment, and not just because his low score over the course of the week was a 5. (That’s right: 5.) But hey, if it’s raising money for charity and it’s not a one-hour ESPN special to announce your free agency choice, we won’t complain. Also – wow, there really is a Guinness World Record for everything.

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