This guy is trying to break the 120 hour world record over at ustream... http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lou-m...ive&utm_source=1&utm_medium=music-alternative
He didn't make it. Stopped at 108 hours. Looked out of it at the end. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4078901 News article: A Chico man was forced to halt his bid for the Guinness book of world records. On Thursday, Lou Mars as he began his world record attempt. He wanted to drum for five straight days, breaking the current mark of 120 hours. Mars reached 108 hours of drumming, but Monday night around 8 pm, he was no longer able to stay awake and his trainers stopped him. According to his website he'd been drumming with two fractured wrists. He came within 12 hours of matching the world record, which is held by Russ Prager of sacramento. If verified by Guinness, Lou Mars' 108 hours of drumming will hold second place.
Did he fracture his wrists during the attempt or did he go into it with broken bones? If it's the latter, it seems pretty stupid to have attempted it in the first place at this time. Wait for them to heal. Man, I can remember the blisters I would get just from a few hours of drumming. That guy's hands must be shredded right now.
By HEATHER HACKING - Staff Writer Posted: 01/20/2010 12:10:51 AM PST The drum set of Lou Mars sits empty around 8 a.m. Tuesday after he was forced to give up his... CHICO — Despite sleep deprivation, continuous music, a brutal beating to vital body parts, Lou Mars kept drumming for 41Ú2 days. His drum kit was literally falling apart and had been repeatedly patched back together. Still, he kept drumming. But in the end, it was a lack of food and liquids — and the fact he could no longer speak coherently — that kept the Chico drummer from breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for marathon drumming. His trainers pulled him off the drum kit after 8 p.m. Monday, a little less than 12 hours from the goal. The record will remain at 120 hours, set by Russ Prager in 2009 in Sacramento. "With the sleep deprivation, you get into wacky mental states," said Robb Wolf, personal trainer and owner of CrossFit NorCal Strength and Conditioning in south Chico. "We saw him go up and down multiple times," but getting him food and water often perked him back up. "The last one he didn't bounce back. We couldn't get enough food in him," Wolf explained. "We pulled him off the kit. It was obvious we weren't going to let him keep chugging for another 12 hours." Wolf said Mars was somewhat delirious at that point and wanted to get back behind the drums. "Even though we pulled him off the kit, he was negotiating with us," Wolf said. "But when we asked him cognitive stuff, he couldn't answer." After the drumbeats ended, Mars took an hour nap and was taken to Enloe Medical Center to be checked out. He had pain in his wrist, which is consistent with doing something for far too long, but he will heal, his trainer said. Wolf said he meant no disrespect to the world record holder in marathon drumming, but the previous record was done with much mellower delivery. When Mars played, he hammered on the drums like he was at a rock concert, Wolf said, and he did that for 41Ú2 days. "Lou wanted to be like an atomic bomb and we were trying to make it a controlled demolition," Wolf said. "He was determined to play the songs the way they were made to be played," his trainer said. Over the four days, a number of other drummers came in to observe and noted that pieces of the drum kit were literally falling off because "he was hitting so hard," Wolf continued. "It sounds over-the-top, but that's what I hope people understand was going on." The record rules required that Mars never go more than 30 seconds between drum beats while playing, and only had so many minutes of rest each hour. Some of the minutes could be pooled, and allowed 45-minute naps each day. In the end, Mars made it to more than 108 hours, the second longest marathon drumming spree in history. Wolf and others at CrossFit NorCal Strength and Conditioning have trained with other athletes, including marathons and triathlons. "For the whole staff, this was the most emotionally up-and-down event we've ever had," he said. He said the monitoring was intense and included a staff of five who gave the drummer a "pit stop" such as ensuring he drank liquids and ate the special diet intended to provide a steady release of energy. At times Mars, who is 45, would douse his head in an ice chest to cool off. But when he lost pace with keeping himself hydrated, that was the end. "You only need 1-2 percent dehydration to decrease your endurance by 25-30 percent," Wolf explained. Even though everyone is exhausted, Wolf said the experience was one the folks involved will only have once in a lifetime. "We've always been a tight family within our staff," he said. "The way everybody rallied ... I'm proud to live here, to be a part of the scene here." Another 100-plus people helped with other details, including documentation and keeping the play list rolling. His performance was broadcast live via the Internet, with a total of 47,872 visitors to the Web site. The record attempt was a fundraiser for Little Kids Rock, www.littlekidsrock.org, a foundation that provides musical instruments to children at more than 1,200 schools. Wolf said once he's caught up on his rest, he plans to write pages and pages about the drumming marathon, and will post it at: www.robbwolf.com. Staff writer Heather Hacking can be reached at 896-7758 or hhacking@chicoer.com.
