Ogbomoso-born Chef, Tope Maggie, commenced his ambitious quest to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest cooking marathon on the 10th of November 2023.
Tope Maggie had set a 200-hour cook-a-thon target, which is about eight days.
The event, which started on Thursday evening, was held at Ogbomoso Recreation Club, opposite LAUTECH College of Health Sciences, Isale-General, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.
Prior to Chef Tope’s attempt, Alan Fisher, who owns a restaurant in Japan had broken two cooking-related Guinness World Records (GWR).
Before Fisher, GWR had confirmed a Nigerian celebrity chef, Hilda Bassey, a.k.a Hilda Baci, as the record holder for the longest cooking marathon by an individual after she cooked for 93 hours earlier in the year.
However, on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, Guinness World Records announced that Fisher had claimed the longest cooking marathon by an individual after he clocked in a time of 119 hours 57 minutes. That is more than 24 hours longer than Hilda Baci’s record.
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“What’s even more impressive is that Alan took on both attempts back to back, meaning he was at work in the kitchen for over 160 hours with just over a day of rest in between!,” GWR wrote on its official site at the time.
However, the move by Tope Maggie is to displace Fisher by setting himself the new target after Hilda Baci had smashed the former GWR held by Lata Tondon, an Indian, in May, after she cooked for 100hours (4 days) non-stop, though seven hours were later deducted as penalty for mistakenly taking extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt.
Tope Maggie, a professional chef, has been running restaurants in Ogbomoso for years.
Many people, including fans and admirers, thronged the venue of the cook-a-thon to cheer Tope on towards realising the historic ambition.
He has also assured his fans that the goal was achievable.
In a voice note being circulated, Tope said he was all set and in high spirit for the task, calling for prayers and support from Nigerians.
“Good evening everyone and thank you for the support and everything you have been doing for me.
“As you know, we are going to start the cook-a-thon tomorrow (Thursday) and we are going for at least 200 hours, that is about eight days non-stop.
“l need you guys to at least pray for me and l want you to be calm and have trust in me and in God. It is going to be successful. I need your prayer and to watch me wherever you are. God will bless you,” Tope Maggie said.
According to sources, Tope is currently waiting to hear from Guinness World Records on whether his attempt was successful or disqualified
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