An Ibadan-based man and co-founder of Laundrypal Cleaning Services, Oluwatosin Michael, has embarked on an ambitious mission to break the Guinness World Record for the longest marathon ironing event.

The current record of 100 hours was set by Gareth Sanders in 2015, but Michael aims to reach an unprecedented 120 hours.

“I am the organiser of the Longest Marathon Ironing Guinness World Record Attempt. We aim at 120 hours,” he stated.

While explaining his motivation, Michael said, “I have been in the Laundry and Dry Cleaning Services since 2016 and I recently completed a training in 3D animation and Post Production organised by YAPPI; this event will mark my transition into the 3D animation and Post Production Industry.”

The six-day event has a community-driven goal.

“We want to channel the goal of the ironing event to appeal to the Oyo State Government and well-meaning Nigerians, to assist my community with a transformer (Ojoo High School).

“Our business is located at Abutu, and the community shares the same transformer with Ojoo High School and environs. The transformer has been faulty for more than two months, and it has affected my business,” Michael explained.

Michael has completed 48 hours of ironing and remains determined despite facing several challenges.

“How to get stable and uninterrupted electricity for the event is a major challenge. Secondly, we need more than 300 volunteers to ensure a successful event,” one of his friends and organisers, Pastor Bola Adeniyi, said.

Health-wise, Michael is holding up well with regular check-ups from the medical team.

“As regards the challenges faced health-wise, he is not having any issue as the medical teams come during break time to check his status, but for real he’s battling with nature which we all believe can’t be cheated.

“With people around him cheering him up and good high-life music, he’s been able to cheat nature to achieve the set goal,” he noted.

There was a brief power disruption during the event, but it was quickly resolved.

“At a point, a minor power issue came up as the light kept blinking due to a connection issue. Our engineer had to put a stop to that. Meanwhile, the power issue didn’t affect his ironing,” he said.

Michael remains optimistic about reaching his target.

“Reaching the 120-hour isn’t a problem. The energy is there to drive it, but we need people around him to keep him awake all through.

“With this, the dream of having the longest ironing marathon, which no one will be able to break, will be achieved without any flaws,” Adeniyi added.