An adventurous 32-year-old US man has set a new Guinness World Record after riding a 15-storey tall Ferris wheel for over 48 hours.
Clinton Shepherd, operations manager at Chicago's Navy Pier lakefront entertainment attraction, spent two days riding a gondola on the Pier's Ferris wheel to break the Guinness World Record for riding a fairground or theme park attraction the longest.
Shepherd boarded the Ferris wheel Friday afternoon at 2.30 pm (local time) and got off on Sunday, 48 hours, eight minutes and 25 seconds later, covering 384 spins on the wheel.
"I didn't just want to beat the previous record of 30 hours and 35 seconds, which was set last July by a guy in Canada, I wanted to shatter it," Shepherd told NBC News.
"Chicago was home to the world's first Ferris wheel and the title should be here," he said.
Shepherd had to follow a strict set of rules outlined in a booklet sent by the Guinness World Records organisation.
"I could take a five minute break every hour and they were keen that I not fall asleep. So we had a video camera recording the whole time and volunteer timekeepers who noted down everything I was doing," said Shepherd.
Shepherd occasionally had visitors riding along in his gondola, which was outfitted with a TV, chandelier, cushions, curtains and table.
The Guinness World Records adjudicator even climbed on for a couple of spins, once when Shepherd broke the existing record and, later, when the 48 hours on board was official.
When he wasn't entertaining guests, Shepherd spent his time snacking on meals sent over by Navy Pier restaurants, watching Batman and James Bond movies, tweeting, listening to music and playing Xbox games.
"It was little rough at about three in the morning, but the more I kept busy, the better," said Shepherd, who admits that he was a little wobbly-legged at the end of the ride.
"It did feel a little weird when I got off, but I was presented with my Guinness World Records certificate right away and then went to celebrate my best friend's birthday. After that, I went home and completely crashed," he said.
