A bleary-eyed researcher who normally sleeps like a log went to bed Friday claiming a guinness world record after staying awake for more than 11 days and nights.But when Tony Wright, 43, finally regained wakefulness Saturday after catching up on his sleep, he was in for a cruel awakening. The human guinea pig discovered he may have given up 10 hours too early to claim the crown.
The record that he broke -- of 11 days, or 264 hours -- was set by American Randy Gardner in 1964 and is recognized in psychiatric textbooks.
But that is 12 hours shorter than the record that used to be included in The Guinness Book of Records before being removed from the book in 1989. It was deleted on the grounds it could encourage records harmful to health and was unverifiable because of the claims of insomnia sufferers.
The Guinness previous record was for 11 days, or 276 hours, and was set by Toimi Soini in Hamina, Finland, between Feb. 5 and Feb. 15, 1964.
Wright stayed awake by eating raw food, drinking tea, eschewing all artificial stimulants and playing pool while thousands watched him on webcam.
