Bowler Scores Another Sleep-Deprived Guinness World Record

One famous Guiness World Record holder feared for his life and sanity while trapped in a block of ice. It wasn’t the stunt itself that spooked self-professed street magician David Blaine, it was the sleep deprivation. He described five days without so much as a nap as the most horrific thing humans can experience, in a recent interview for the book “Wide Awake: A Memoire of Insomnia.”

The Guiness World Records banned the sleep-deprivation category of stunts because of the potential health hazard, yet many officially sanctioned feats still require staying awake for days.

This baffling policy sends mixed messages about sleep deprivation. Staying up for a week straight isn't okay unless the time is spent playing trading card games?

A bowler who recently disregarded his own health to chase a world record shared Blaine’s sentiments about sleep-deprivation. He called the mental anguish from sleeplessness the hardest part the world’s longest tenpin bowling marathon.

ESPN Dallas reports Stephen Shanabrook, 24, rolled for five days straight at a 24 hour bowling alley in Plano, Texas.

Unlike Blaine he allowed himself to take a few extremely brief naps. The longest lasted only two hours. Shanabrook aimed for five games an hour or a game every 12 minutes because the official Guiness rules state the record-holder must bowl within the “spirit of the game.” Any time that was left over could be accumulated and used for whatever he wanted. Naturally he chose bathroom breaks, eating and occasionally napping.

The stunt began last Monday and ended five days and five hours later, easily shattering the current record.