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Fundraising Guinness World Record Attempt

Wayne J

Wayne J

Site Supporter
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
2,836
Location
Walsall
Alias
WWJ
As some of you may already know, I will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for endurance pinball playing, which currently stands at 28hrs.

My reasons for this are threefold:

My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer 18months ago, but because he left it too long to go to the doctors and have it checked out as soon as he started getting the symptoms it was too late to cure. He is currently in hospital (21st July) having got an infection following his first bout of chemo the week previous.

So - Reason 1 is to raise the awareness of the symptoms and the importance for people to go and get checked out asap so that it can be treated before it gets too late.

Reason 2, while watching the London Marathon, I was amazed at the number of people who were running "in memory" of someone. So I'm doing this while my dad is still alive to know that I've done it, and for him to see that people's lives could be saved because of it. I'm not knocking people who do things "in memory of" , but wouldn't it be nice - if possible - to be able to do it "in honour of" while they were still alive?

Reason 3, who doesn't want to hold a Guinness World Record?
 
RULES:

Only a single machine can be used for the attempt. If there is a machine malfunction a second machine can be used (but must be of the same type). I will be using WPT.

Hands must remain on the flipper buttons at all times, except when plunging the ball or inserting coins.

Every continuous hour of play earns you a 5minute break. These can be stacked, or only part used, but a 5 minute break is only earned after a full hours continuous play. So 1hr 55 mins still only earns a 5min break.

Play can be standing or seated.

The whole event MUST be video recorded from a static camera which can then be sent to GWR on an external harddrive or memory stick.

There MUST be 2 independent witnesses present at all times, they can do no more than a 4hr shift. They should be unknown to me and also "experts" in the field.
I have since pointed out to GWR that anyone who could be considered an "expert" in pinball I am likely to know. So as a compromise, 1 of the witnesses can be from the pinball community, the other should be unknown to me, and the pinball witness as well as being a member of a professional society (Medical staff, Accountant, Police Officer etc.)
 
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I hope to have a just giving page set up by the mid September. This is being ran by the Well Wishers at Walsall who look after all of the charity events at the hospital.

Half of all the money raised will be going to a national prostate cancer charity, the other half will be going to the Urology department at Walsall Manor Hospital.

Sometime in September I'll be asking for volunteers to act as witnesses, maybe even tech support. So if you can spare a couple of hours it'd be much appreciated. There'll be at least 1 other machine set up alongside the 2 WPT s so you can at least play pinball yourself.

We're also trying to arrange "celebrities" to come and play alongside me to raise awareness. Current possibilities include Noddy Holder, The Walsall Football Team and Joseph Whelan.
 
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Go-on Wayne, you can do it and some great reasons! Count me in for sponsoring when you're ready.

Cheers

Vin
 
Awesome stuff Wayne. I wish you all the best, I'm sure you'll do it and raise a ton of cash for charity too.

As a marathon pin player my top tip will be have those ice packs ready for your forearms.... They will be *aching* like holy hell the next day :-D

On the one pin too! Jeez I had 7 to switch around on and by the end hated every single one of them :-D

Cheers

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
On the one pin too
Click to expand...
That did come as a shock to me as well, you never know I may even reach Keefer Invitational.
No doubt I'll be contacting you nearer the date for tips and advice as to how best to keep going, such as what did you eat, how often, etc.
 
Good for you wayne. I doff my cap, my dad had this cancer.

My father-in-law had this cancer.

I think that for men of a certain age it is the most prevalent form of cancer and one of the greatest threats to life.
 
Good on you Wayne, my dad too is going through cancer treatment at the moment so know how it is. Make sure to put a donation link on here when you can, I'm sure many of us will be digging into our pockets.

Am sure you'll be sick to death of 'Hi, I'm Mike Sexton......' come the end of it ;)
 
5 mins break per hour, all on the same machine, 2 witnesses at all times...... sounds the same rules as the 555h 55m 55s record set in 1984, under Guinness' watchful eye. I wonder why they decided to abandon that one.

Anyway it will be good to have the official current record here in UK and hopefully we can see it change hands year on year. I'll be sponsoring, and hope for a webcam
 
Goodluck Wayne, sounds like a hell of a worthy cause. Please do give me a shout if you need any more info on the camera stuff.

Hope it all goes to plan and you raise a good wad of cash :clap:
 
Just Giving page now set up (post 4) if you want to become an early donator.
 
A big Thank you to those that have donated already, I'm overwhelmed by how much has been donated already from a single post on here and Facebook.
Wait until I REALLY start promoting it.

Further news is that I have contacted a number of Pinball manufacturers (4 to be precise) and some of the UK pinball parts suppliers in regard to them donating some pinball merchandise or parts so I can run a sweepstake/raffle for everyone who donates.
In less than an hour I've had positive responses from 3 companies, if the others respond as well it looks like there could well be prizes for everyone.

I can't decide whether to run it as a raffle with prizes allocated randomly, or turn it into a fun competition. Maybe people make a guess as to how many games I play through the 30hrs, or average score, high score, lowest score or how many tilts?

What do you think?
 
Thank you to all who have donated so far, both cash from individuals and prizes from pinball parts suppliers.

So far on the prize list is
a set of pinblades of your choice from PinGraffix
a $50 gift voucher from Mezel Mods
a full LED insert set of your choice from LED.co.uk

with many more suppliers pledged gifts, but not yet confirmed what they will be sending.

To be in with a chance of winning one, or more, of these; once you have made a donation simply guess
1. The number of games I will play over the challenge
2. The highest score achieved, and
3. the average score.

Entry is open to all those who have donated via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Wayne-Johns

Don't forget to make you guesses.
 
Wayne J said:
Thank you to all who have donated so far, both cash from individuals and prizes from pinball parts suppliers.

To be in with a chance of winning one, or more, of these; once you have made a donation simply guess
1. The number of games I will play over the challenge
2. The highest score achieved, and
3. the average score.

Entry is open to all those who have donated via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Wayne-Johns

Don't forget to make you guesses.
Click to expand...

1. Easy, you're only playing WPT so one :D
2. Glass on or off? :p
3. See above :)

In all seriousness, I'll be making a donation, is there no way you could do perhaps one prize for the above question and then a raffle for the other pledged prizes as I would think that would raise even more money for a worthy cause?
 
mufcmufc said:
In all seriousness, I'll be making a donation, is there no way you could do perhaps one prize for the above question and then a raffle for the other pledged prizes as I would think that would raise even more money for a worthy cause?
Click to expand...

There'll be 3 'bundles' of prizes, one for each of the above questions.
Depending on what's left, I may pick a random donor to receive the rest - just depends on the number of prizes
 
I have just received from Stern a large bundle of promo flyers, GB translites/posters as well as a large number of target decals (mainly for AcDc but many I can't identify).
The GB posters and a 1 of each promo flyers will be added to the prize pool.
I see no point in adding the game specific decals so if anyone wants any, make a donation and they're yours. I'll bring them along to the next few comps/shows (Tilt bar, UK open, NLP, BOP) so people can have a rummage.
There's also a large number of flyers for machines ranging from Austin Powers through to Game of Thrones. 1 of each will be added to each prize bundle, but there will still be excess - so again, if there's a specific flyer you want make a donation and its yours.

PM me if you want a full list of available flyers. (Obviously they're all in mint condition)
 
No, sorry Neil. If there was I promise I wouldn't have kept it for myself.
 
Firstly,
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, with less than 2 weeks to go the donations are up to £2,000, still short of my £5,000 target.
It is simple to donate via the JustGiving page, and you can donate from anywhere around the world in any currency.
There is also a chance for all donors to enter a competition to win some great pinball related prizes, so please take the time to read the reasons why I am doing this and donate and share amongst your contacts.
Thank you
 
mufcmufc said:
You got local media on this Wayne?
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Got 2 Walsall papers coming to do a photo shoot this afternoon, having already given a telephone interview, I just need to sign off on it.
Hoping to have the TV here on the day as well, but the hospital charity is dealing with that.
 
With just 5 days to go, I'm asking for more help. Not money, but your time.
To qualify for a Guinness World Record there must be 2 witnesses present at all time, one of which must be a "pinball expert" , the other completely unknown to me. The hospital is dealing with the unknown witness and I am trying to find pinball experts!

I have filled most of the witness slots, but am still missing 2:
Saturday 15:00-18:00
Sunday 12:00 - 15:00

All you'll have to do is be there to verify that I am indeed playing pinball, sign a witness statement to that effect and log any breaks I may take.

While I'll be playing on my WPT, there'll be an additional WPT and my Met Prem there for you to play if you want. There'll also be free tea and coffee.

If anyone is able to commit to attending any of these time slots it'd be appreciated, please send me a pm.

Thanks
 
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