Cochrane’s Martin Parnell is up to it again.
Only this time, he won’t run another marathon to raise money and awareness for Right To Play, or run any distance at all, but rather he’ll be playing netball.
Parnell and Netball Alberta are staging an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest game of netball, closest in similarity to basketball, with Netball Quest 61. The continuous 61-hour charity event, with a goal of raising $25,000, will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 16, at Calgary’s South Fish Creek Recreation Complex, and run until hour 61 at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 19.
Parnell, a semi-retired mining engineer, raised more than $300,000 for Right To Play in 2010, when he completed his Marathon Quest 250 – running 250 marathons in 365 days. He’s clearly prepared for the endurance aspect, but said this event will be a new challenge.
“In mid-April this year, Netball Alberta invited me to play an exhibition game to promote their sport,” Parnell said. “I had never played the game before, and Earle Connor (two-time Paralympic 100-metre gold medallist) and myself played for an hour with members of the Netball Alberta provincial teams. It was a great workout and loads of fun.”
Netball Quest 61 is to be completed by two teams of 12 players, consisting of Parnell and members of Netball Alberta, who must remain courtside for the duration of the challenge.
It will be the second event in his Quest Series, which he plans to continue by undertaking other endurance sports in order to raise more funds and awareness for Right To Play.
For every $50 raised, the global children’s charity will be able to offer weekly sport and play-based programs to one child for a year.
The current Guinness record for the longest netball match is 60 hours, set in August 2010 by two teams in the U.K.
