An Ebonyi State indigene, Celestine Onele, has commenced a 150-hour marathon ironing since Monday, April 22, 2024, in his quest to break the Guinness World Record.
Onele, an electrical engineer by profession hails from Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.
The young engineer told newsmen in Abakaliki, last Sunday, that he has secured approval from Guinness for the marathon ironing with rules that must be strictly adhered to for the record.
Residents of Abakaliki have since been assembling their clothes for ironing at the event centre, Real Exclusive Garden, in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Onele, who said he likes ironing from childhood, aims to beat Garric Standard from the United Kingdom and Huston from Australia who had broken the record in the past.
“Before Garric Standard from UK, the current record holder was Huston from Australia. So, she broke the record in 2012 with 80 hours before Garric did in 2015 for 100 hours.
“After Garric Standard did, Guinness has given approval for some individuals who have attempted the record but didn’t get the acknowledgement based on the fact that there were so many rules they tampered with.
“Currently, I am on the verge of attempting the Guinness World Record for the longest marathon ironing in the world. If I surpass the current holder of the record, I will be the new holder for the longest marathon ironing by an individual in the world. I am an engineer but I love being inspired to do different things to put my name on the map.”
He continued: “On July 7 last year, I submitted my application to Guinness World after a rigorous research which we all know that after submitting application, it takes a whole lot of inspection from different expertise and by the Grace of God, after 18 weeks of waiting, I got a mail that my application to attempt a Guinness World Record has been approved.
“After three weeks, a specific guideline was approved for me and it’s a guideline that I have to follow to break the record. There are so many rules in the guideline which if you tamper with, you will not be recognised.
“One of the rules says I have 30 seconds to pick materials. So, whenever I finish ironing a material, I have 30 seconds to pick up another material and iron. And for the rest break, I have just 5 minutes to rest after one hour.”