Two men from County Durham will play pool for 111 hours consecutively later this month as they try to smash the Guinness World Record for the third time and raise a whopping £10,000 for charity.

Marc Murray, 37, from Blyth, Northumberland, and Colin Pilcher, 40, from Consett, will again attempt to break the Guinness world record for the longest consecutive amount of time playing pool.

Starting on July 25 and ending on July 29, the duo hope to play 1,000 games of pool in 111 hours in Hooch’s Snooker and Pool Lounge in Consett.

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The Northern Echo: Marc Murray and Colin Pilcher.Marc Murray and Colin Pilcher. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

The friends have previously held the record twice in 2011 and 2013, which landed their names inside the Guinness World Record printed book.

Ahead of what is set to be a memorable, yet daunting four days, Marc and Colin spoke of their hopes for the stunt and why they have decided to pick up their pool cues for a third time.

Colin said: “We always said we would never do it again because we struggled the last time. We are ten years older, and life doesn’t get easier when you do stuff like this.

“I think we do enjoy the buzz of the whole thing even though it is stressful getting everything arranged and then actually doing it.”

Marc agreed, adding: “I think it has just been a running joke since 2013. One of us ends up mentioning doing a third attempt and we knew the answer would be no as we also promised our partners we would never do it again.

“It has been this running joke year on year, until finally, one of us said yes.”

Alongside their pool stint, they will be raising money for The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and the If You Care Share Foundation which helps to tackle suicide prevention which are both charities very close to their hearts.

Marc said: “I’ve got two boys who are profoundly deaf, and they wear cochlear implants. The NCDS has been invaluable in their support to my family over the past eight years, so I want to give something back.”

For Colin, who works in the Police force, the work of the If You Care Share Foundation helps support people the Police force deal with every day.

He said: “We get daily calls about emergencies relating to mental health. We unfortunately deal with lots of suicides.

“I wanted to choose a local charity that helps families with things to do with mental health and suicide prevention.”

The Northern Echo: Marc Murray and Colin Pilcher.Marc Murray and Colin Pilcher. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Marc and Colin’s pool world record journey began in 2011 when they played for 72 hours straight and broke the world record for the first time. 2013 saw them break it again with an 88-hour pool marathon.

The current record is also held by two UK-based players from Newton Abbot, who played for an astonishing 105 hours and 22 minutes in 2017.

If all goes well, Marc and Colin will beat that number by six hours in their attempt at the end of this month.

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Rules dictate the pair can have twenty-minute breaks – but this must cover everything from eating, going to the toilet, showering, and resting their eyes.

Two witnesses will also have to be present at all times, meaning family and friends have been roped in to watch the pair play at all hours of the day and night.

Despite the challenge, the pair are pretty confident they will beat the record again and come out on top.

Colin said: “I have no doubt we will do it, but it will be hard. It will be the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives, but we have good people around us.”

Marc added: “That’s the thing, as much as it is us doing the challenge, we have people around us looking after us and we could not do it without other people and their support.”

If you’d like to donate to Marc and Colin’s fundraiser and find out more about the challenge, click here.