Three days straight on the bowling green in the middle of a north-west Queensland summer sounds like a hell of a challenge, and definitely unprecedented.
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Yet that is precisely what Cloncurry Bowls Club manager Shayne Barwick achieved this weekend.
Starting on Friday in front of a handful of people at 9am, he finished his incredible marathon at 10am on Monday, watched by Sunrise, the ABC and seemingly half the town.
At the end a noticeably wobbly Mr Barwick seemed overcome by the enormity of what he had achieved.
“I’m just relieved,” he said. “I’m going to the pub with my mates, have a beer, have a cigar and relax.”
He can now relax as he has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest bowl ever by a single person.
Feting him at the end of the session, former councillor Keith Douglas said Mr Barwick was a credit to the town.
“You’ve put us on the map; we’ve had calls from everywhere this morning,” Mr Douglas said.
Mr Barwick chose the toughest time of year to take on the quest with hot temperatures, high humidity and even heavy showers in the middle of the night not enough to put him off his game.
There were a lot of ends played and a lot of supporters who came down for a game of bowls and to support him in four-hour stints with 10-minute breaks.
Mr Barwick thanked everyone who helped out.
“I needed timekeepers and medical staff so whoever was not working in Cloncurry and Mount Isa came out and gave us a hand,” he said.
The record attempt is raising money for a good cause.
“We’re building a disability ramp out the front; I’ve got the money for the ramp itself but I didn’t get the money for the roof so that’s what I’m raising the money for,” he said.
So why 73 hours? Well, it’s a bit of a mistake, actually.
There was no previous record attempt for solo bowlers so he could have chosen any amount of time.
“I was reading in the Guinness Book of rules and regulations and I thought it said 73 hours to beat but it wasn’t – it was the age of some bloke,” Mr Barwick said.