Man Stays Awake On Ferris Wheel For A Record-Breaking 52 Hours

Eugeniy Zakharov beginning his world-record attempt (CEN)

In a test of endurance David Blaine would be proud of, a man has broken the world record for riding a Ferris wheel non-stop – by staying on board for 52 hours without sleep.

Eugeniy Zakharov, from Russia, beat the previous record of 48 hours eight minutes and 25 seconds set by American Clinton Shepard.

The 30-year-old stumbled across the record and decided to give it a go – but was motivated by quite unusual reasons.

Having become frustrated that his home city of Yekaterinburg was always in the media for the wrong reasons, he decided his efforts could brighten the news agenda.

“I wanted to do something for our city of Yekaterinburg,” he said. “The media are happy to write about some drunk guy shooting another, or people having punch-ups on planes, but what about the positive things?

Zakharov during the challenge (CEN)

“We have a fantastic Ferris wheel here, and I decided that to put the focus on that and on the city. [I thought] it would be great to try and beat this record.”

In total, Zakharov spent 52 hours and 30 minutes on the Ferris wheel, with the entire experiment broadcast in real time.

The only rule was that he wasn’t allowed sleep – although he was technically allowed to leave the booth for five minutes every hour, but only took the opportunity seven times.

Zakharov says he could manage over 70 hours (CEN)

He invited people from the city to come and keep him company and had a laptop installed to keep him entertained.

But was it difficult? Not at all, says Zakharov.

“I could have gone a lot longer, but I wanted to give [previous record holder] Clinton Shepard the chance to get revenge,” he said.

“However, I have to say he will need to be prepared to spend 72 hours in a Ferris wheel if he really wants to give me a challenge.”