Belinda [00:00:02]:
Well, hello, Glen, and welcome to the motorsport coaching podcast.
Glenn [00:00:06]:
Hi, Belinda. Thanks for having me.
Belinda [00:00:08]:
So you're not from motorsports, you're not an allied health professional. You have no connection with motorsports. Tell our listeners a little bit about you.
Glenn [00:00:17]:
Well, no, I have nothing to do with motorsport, but I do like doing, trying to keep fit and doing physically challenging things. So I spent a lot of time training and spent a lot of time on my feet trying to get ready for things that I may or may not succeed at.
Belinda [00:00:39]:
So let's go back to a bit of your career. How did you get into what we're about to talk about in a second, but tell us a little about your career and your background.
Glenn [00:00:50]:
So start off life is a physical education teacher. I then joined the Air force, became a logistics officer and spent a few years there and then. Since then, I've spent a lot of time in the infrastructure space, in development of projects and those types of things. So I've done all sorts of bits and pieces. You know the old saying? What is that old saying, belinda?
Belinda [00:01:20]:
Jack, Jack, masters of none.
Glenn [00:01:23]:
That's the one. That's the one. So, yeah, very, very broad, little depth.
Belinda [00:01:29]:
Fantastic. So I have got you on today's show because we are raising awareness, and if you've got a fantastic event coming up, tell us a little bit about your charity event.
Glenn [00:01:42]:
So, the event's called playing the long game, and it is a Guinness world record attempt to break the record for the longest tennis singles marathon, which the record currently stands at 80 hours and 48 minutes. We do also, my playing partner Jamie and I also hold the record for the longest tennis doubles marathon. So we did that with two others five years ago, and that stands at. At about 61 and a quarter hours. And that still stands at the moment. So we do have some form in this area.
Belinda [00:02:21]:
Wow. I want to go back from the start. Like, how did this concept even come about? Why the world record? Why tennis? Let's go back for tennis. What does it mean to be playing tennis and with your friend Jamie?
Glenn [00:02:36]:
Right. So I'm not a tennis player, so the only time I really play tennis is when I have one of these things coming up. But it started over 30 years ago. So just after uni, I had a mate who decided be a good idea for us to play doubles tennis for 50 hours and raise some money for homeless youth.
Belinda [00:03:03]:
Just straight out the back? Yep.
Glenn [00:03:07]:
Being young and stupid, of course, you say.
Belinda [00:03:09]:
Yes, of course.
Glenn [00:03:11]:
So. So we did that when I was in my early twenties. Um, didn't go for a Guinness World record but we did it by the Guinness rules. So fast forward a number of years after that experience. I'd always had the Guinness World record in my mind, so eventually, at 51 years of age, I got around to doing it. And myself, Jamie and two others who actually worked for Movember or do work for Movember. But Movember wasn't our charity at that time, just coincidence. So we then went and played tennis.
Glenn [00:03:47]:
We did the doubles record, as I said, five years ago. And so then a natural extension of that was the singles record. So here we are.
Belinda [00:03:58]:
And so, Glenn, what does it mean to you to achieve a Guinness World record? Obviously, like it's just come out of nowhere. It's not like you've been training all your life for it. It's kind of like someone said, let's play doubles for 50, 60 hours. Sounds like a great idea. We'll raise some money and we'll break a world record. But what does that mean for you? I feel like there's something obviously coming from defensey. I'm assuming that you're quite competitive, naturally, but, yeah, it isn't the mindset of it. Was it just the thrill of having a name for something or what was your real driving force too?
Glenn [00:04:31]:
I think it's all of those things. So yes, it's nice to have Guinness World Record, but more for me, it's about challenging myself. So I don't, so purely from a personal perspective, I don't know what my, what my limits are.
Belinda [00:04:47]:
Yep.
Glenn [00:04:48]:
So I haven't, I haven't yet broken myself mentally in a physical challenge. So, you know, this is another extension of, well, how far can I go? It's just, it's just an experiment, really. How far can you go? How are you going to hold up? During what journey are you going to go on? Because physically being on your feet for that long is really challenging, but the mental part is even more difficult and you don't know because it's extreme sleep deprivation and you don't know where your mind's going to go. So that's part of the adventure as well.
Belinda [00:05:27]:
And have you been training for that? Like, how have you been working on your mindset to get your mind feeling for your event coming up?
Glenn [00:05:35]:
So obviously we've had some experience in this before. So last time we attempted the record or a record, we were hallucinating. You go through so many ebbs and flows throughout. Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. It's useful having other people out there because you tend to be up and down at different times. But in terms of training for the sleep deprivation, well, I'm not really depriving myself of sleep in order to do that. There are a couple of times where I'll get up in the middle of the night, I'll go for a walk for two or 3 hours, come back, go to bed and that sort of thing. And that's more just to mentally prepare for it.
Glenn [00:06:18]:
But I think to an extent we know what's coming. So you just have to dig in. You know, you're gonna have hard times and you've just gotta push through it. Your support crew is really important because when you're so sleep deprived, you do get, you become more emotional, you can become more belligerent, whatever that is. So I've got a plan in place for if and when that happens, as to who's to speak to me and that sort of thing. Because you do become a lot less rational. So we do have plans in place for that sort of thing.
Belinda [00:06:57]:
Can we talk about those plans? Like what kind of things? Like are they saying affirmations? Are they just generally talking to you? Are they bringing up stories or something to motivate you?
Glenn [00:07:08]:
I think, I think it depends.
Belinda [00:07:12]:
Don't be weak, Lynn. Just do it.
Glenn [00:07:15]:
So I do have, I do have a rule. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not allowed to quit unless it is long term, permanent damage, either physically or mentally. Otherwise I've got to stay out there because I mean, we're not going to die doing this. So it's not like it's a, it's not like it's a high risk. We're not doing base jumping. So it's, it's from that perspective, it's quite a safe activity. But so that's one of my rules. I'm not allowed to quit unless it's, you know, long term damage scenario.
Glenn [00:07:52]:
The other thing is the person who needs, if I'm being irrational, the person who needs to speak to me is my wife because she will get me back on track in the absence, in case she's not there for some reason. Then my elder sister is, uh, picking up that mantle. And so my wife's the only one that's allowed to say he's done, he pull him off. My elder sister can also make that decision, but only after she's consulted with my wife.
Belinda [00:08:31]:
Oh, it's a bit of a DNR situation happening there. I guess my, um. Not concerned, but like your question is, obviously five years ago when you did do it, you're five years younger and there was also four of you doing it, so obviously it was a lot easier to motivate one another. And now it is just going to basically be you and Jamie and that support crew out there. And it's going to be like an extra 20 hours plus. Plus.
Glenn [00:09:03]:
Great.
Belinda [00:09:06]:
So that's what makes.
Glenn [00:09:09]:
Yeah, that dynamic will be interesting. It is. And we don't know how that's going to play out. So, I mean, that's just another unknown, given that there will be. Although this time we will have more support crew, we've got more people available to us, so that's good. In terms of the players. I don't envision Jamie and I talking too much. We're at obscene to the court, and it's fortunate.
Glenn [00:09:34]:
We're probably quite similar in that regard in that we don't need to be talking to people all the time. We're happy just to go into our shells and grind it out, but I don't think there'll be a lot of interaction between us just because of the distance between us.
Belinda [00:09:49]:
Okay, so I need to ask. Toilet breaks, what happens then?
Glenn [00:09:53]:
So, rules. We get five.
Belinda [00:09:58]:
I'm like.
Glenn [00:10:01]:
So we get five minutes an hour, which we can accumulate. Okay, so the aim is to build up as much time. So probably the second night, second and third nights, we can then get some sleep. So we'll go, we'll probably push through the same as last time. We'll probably push through the first, probably get around to about 40 hours or so, then try and grab a sleep, don't know how long, depending how much time we've banked. And then get up and go again and build up time and the next night, have a short amount of sleep and just keep. Keep pushing through that way. So as soon as you.
Glenn [00:10:40]:
Soon as one of you leaves the court, it eats into your accumulated time. So toilet, shower, medical treatment, just need to sit down, anything like that that comes off your time. You can eat and drink on court as long as it doesn't interfere with the flow of play. So there is some leeway there.
Belinda [00:11:01]:
And who has the fortunate or unfortunate job of refereeing umpiring?
Glenn [00:11:05]:
So we have. You have to have qualified umpires.
Belinda [00:11:09]:
Yep.
Glenn [00:11:09]:
You have to have qualified umpires and two independent witnesses at all times. They can do a maximum of a four hour shift and they can do more than one shift, but not consecutive. Okay, so we need a minimum of 20. We've got 21 umpiring shifts to fill, 42 witness shifts to fill as a minimum. That's just to get us to the record. If we go longer, we need more. So it is very labor intensive as well. So I'm still running around trying to round up umpires and witnesses now.
Glenn [00:11:42]:
As you can imagine, there's not that many qualified umpires out there who aren't already umpiring tennis matches, so they are quite hard to come by. So that's one of the challenges. We also need to film the whole event and submit that to Guinness's evidence. We need to have a count up clock, which is visible on the video at all times as well. So there's a number of rules we need to go through, and there's a pile of evidence that we then need to submit to Guinness. So it takes a fair amount of time afterwards to put all this together and get it into Guinness.
Belinda [00:12:17]:
Wow, what a fantastic effort that you go into to raise funds for. You mentioned before Movember. Why did you choose to support Movember?
Glenn [00:12:29]:
A few reasons. Over the years, I've known people that have and do work at Movember. I have donated to people who have done the traditional Movember challenge. And then coming up for three years ago, my nephew died by suicide. And so my eldest sister's son, he. So at that stage, he had two daughters who were five and three, obviously my sister, who they spoke every day. So, you know, they all adored him. He adored all of them, but that wasn't enough to keep him here.
Glenn [00:13:14]:
And then I see just the grief and the upheaval that is caused for them. So I don't really want other families to go through that. So I guess this is our way of contributing to that cause and trying to avoid that happening in the future.
Belinda [00:13:34]:
Yeah. For those who don't know about Movember, what do they do? What kind of charity is it?
Glenn [00:13:40]:
So Movember is their. I mean, their byline is changing the face of men's health. And I think one of the great things that movember does is that men traditionally aren't that good looking after themselves and aren't that good at organizing in comparison to our female counterparts. So I think by focusing attention on some of the main causes that affect men and doing research and raising funds and awareness and all that sort of thing, and running programs is a great thing. So they look at suicide and mental health, prostate cancer, testicular cancer. They're their main areas that they focus on at the moment. I think one of the good things they've done is rather than trying to cover everything that could possibly affect you, they're focusing on the areas that are particularly prevalent in males at the moment. So I don't know whether in the future they're going to expand into other areas, but that's the sort of focus at the moment.
Glenn [00:14:50]:
They are a great organization. I was fortunate enough to have an overseas holiday last September, October and I happened to be sitting in a bar having a beer and, and this was in Canada and a big movember ad came up on the tv and I thought, well, it was interesting to see that they are getting that reach overseas as well. So they're now also in the US, Canada, UK. So, yeah, an expanding footprint.
Belinda [00:15:24]:
Yeah. Fantastic. Well, congratulations. So we haven't spoken much about the actual event. Tell us, when is this Guinness World record happening? Where, when and how can we get involved?
Glenn [00:15:36]:
All right, so it kicks off on the 25 April at 07:30 a.m. So Anzac Day. 07:30 a.m. We break the record at about 04:20 p.m. On Sunday, the 28 April, it is at the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne Court 18. So Melbourne park where the Australian opens held. We are down there in that facility and all that's being provided free of charge by Tennis Australia and tennis world down there. So that's fantastic.
Glenn [00:16:11]:
And how can you get involved? Well, if anyone out there wants to volunteer to be a witness or anything, I'll certainly leave some links with you, Belinda. But also we do have a number of socials up and running which are on instagram's playing the long game. 2024 on Facebook is playing the long game. Or if you just go straight to the Movember website and search for playing the long game, it takes you directly to the donation page for Movember. So available through all of those channels.
Belinda [00:16:48]:
And of course all those links will be available in today's show. Note, was there a reason that you kicking off on Anzac day? Is that just when it was available or there's actually a thought behind it?
Glenn [00:17:01]:
A couple of reasons. One is the practicality of availability, but also Jamie and I, both ex Defence force members, and so we just wanted to highlight also that there's a number of great defence charities, specific charities out there. But Movember's available for everyone and so obviously in the Defence force the majority of people are still male and we just want to draw attention to the fact that this is available for everyone. And we're deliberately starting at 07:30 a.m. To make sure we're clear of the dawn services. So being ex defence, we obviously understand the importance of Anzac day and didn't want to impinge on that. And the just on I mean, the suicide rates in defense are interesting in that, particularly just speaking about males at the moment, but it tends to be, and there's a report on this whilst they're in the service, suicide rates are less than the general population. With the ex defence people, the suicide rates are higher than the general population.
Glenn [00:18:15]:
So there's obviously something happening there that is causing that. So not being an expert in the field, so I won't speculate on that. However, we just want to make sure the defence committee knows this is available for everyone, so we're trying to draw attention to that as well.
Belinda [00:18:32]:
Fantastic. Now, I want to know about your training. We didn't touch base on the training side of things. The really important side of things. We talked about the mental mindset, we've talked about nutrition and our toilet breaks. How are we training for this event without playing tennis? 24.
Glenn [00:18:52]:
Lots of time on feet, Belinda, so I'm standing speaking to you now. I rarely sit down. Pretty much the only time I've off my feet when I'm sleeping. So time on feet. Strength, strength. Work I do, cardio work I do. So that's about. That takes over about seven or 8 hours a week.
Glenn [00:19:15]:
And then I do all my walking. I walk in my tennis racket everywhere. I. And then I play. Play tennis. If I don't have a tennis partner, I've got a wall in the courtyard that I hit tennis balls against. So. Well, my training now is my biggest week so far has been about 27 hours, so.
Glenn [00:19:38]:
And I'm just ramping up for another big push over Easter. Get a lot of hours in and then I'll start to go into my taper but. Yep, lots of time. So. Sorry, go. So I started recording all my training on the 6 November and so since the 6 November I've done about two and a half million steps, averaging about 120,000 a week. And I've averaged about 15 hours a week of training. So there's a lot of time goes into it.
Belinda [00:20:13]:
I was going to ask Len, do you have a shoe sponsor?
Glenn [00:20:17]:
No, but one of them handy.
Belinda [00:20:20]:
We've got through a few, yeah, I would say that. Have you got any sponsors on board for this project or you just basically just trying to self fund it through.
Glenn [00:20:31]:
We're self funding, so the donations go to movember, so just want to be clear on that. If we can't get any sponsors then we'll just. We'll self fund it. We did have a couple of small breweries, but we've run into a hurdle with Guinness because alcohol sponsorship, so we just need to work through that to see where we end up.
Belinda [00:21:02]:
So I think my next question is then, how much equipment do you actually need? So how many pairs of shoes have you got? Have they all been worn in yet or are you wearing them different in how many tennis rackets, you know, clothing are you going to be taking over that period of time?
Glenn [00:21:17]:
So shoes. I'll have a variety of shoes just because in different, different types, just because your feet get sore, like if you get a hotspot, you change a shoe. Try and. Try and get rid of that. So I have a whole variety of shoes. Last time when we did this, it was 37 degrees for three days. It was over 50 degrees on court and we just couldn't get comfortable. So I was in thongs, I was in sketches, I was in running shoes, trying anything just to try and get comfortable.
Glenn [00:21:49]:
So you do. We can get quite desperate at times. It's outside, so we don't know what the weather's going to be like. It could be warm, cool, wet, dry, who knows? Especially in April and Melbourne could get anything. So there'll be a bunch of. I have a whole range of clothes. Once again, as we get closer and we get a better idea of what the forecast will be, we can plan that a bit better, but it will just be what comes. I mean, people have said to me, what happens if it rains? Well, you play, the balls won't bounce very well, but we'll still be out there playing.
Glenn [00:22:26]:
But that's just the reality of it. So there is no plan b. This is it. We're going ahead regardless.
Belinda [00:22:32]:
I was about to ask that. Fantastic. And of course anyone can come down and support you on the event.
Glenn [00:22:39]:
Please do, please do. So, as I said, court 18 at the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne. There will be. The MCG is just behind us, so the Anzac day footy matches will be happening. If anyone's going to any of those, please feel free to drop in and say hi. Any support we can get is appreciated.
Belinda [00:23:00]:
And Glenn, what about first aid? Do you have to have a full time appointed first aid officer there as well?
Glenn [00:23:06]:
No, we'll have our little first aid kits. I mean, the stuff we're likely to get, we just deal with ourselves, like, you know, blisters, that sort of stuff. And then if even the rare event that there is an emergency, well, triple zero.
Belinda [00:23:27]:
What about Jamie? Has he been training as much as you as well?
Glenn [00:23:30]:
Yeah, he has. He has trained differently, but. But he's been. He's been putting huge hours and given that neither of us are getting younger. We both had various injuries to deal with along the way and complaints. So he, he actually has a right shoulder issue at the moment, which is not ideal given his right handed going into this. So we. I'm hoping that he can get that resolved in the next month.
Belinda [00:23:56]:
And if you've got your phone and Airpods all charged up, we'll have all.
Glenn [00:24:01]:
That stuff ready to go. We'll have music and I don't know what else we'll have going, but we're trying to get a local musician down to play one night just to break things up a bit. So we'll see how it all goes. There'll be a bit of entertainment down there, particularly, I think, on the Saturday. So if people want to drop in and have a drink and say hello and like I say, listen to some music, perhaps it'll be. It'll be great.
Belinda [00:24:30]:
Yeah. So apart from the website, where is there a Facebook or Instagram page where they can follow it and to see what is going to be actually happening over the course of the three to four days?
Glenn [00:24:40]:
Yeah, look, there will be, well, I was going to say live updates. They may not be live. There will be updates through Instagram and Facebook. So once again, it'll be those same accounts that we spoke about and we can leave links to those. But yes, there'll be ongoing, ongoing updates and hopefully beyond the time of the record. But who knows? We'll see.
Belinda [00:25:04]:
Do you have a goal in mind? Obviously, 80 hours and 48 minutes is to beat. But what's your goal? Don't have 181?
Glenn [00:25:13]:
No, I'm consciously not setting a goal because if you set a target, you reach the target and you tend not to go much beyond that. If you don't have a target, then in theory there is no end point. So that's what I'm working towards. Just keep going as long as I can keep going. Whether that's 80 hours and 49 minutes or whether it's 103 hours, which is highly unlikely, by the way, but just. Yeah, try not seeing firm targets. Just get on and even not focus on the record, just focus on here now be present, keep going regardless of what the clock says.
Belinda [00:25:58]:
Fantastic. Well, Glenn, thank you so much for sharing about your opportunity. That's coming up. The Guinness World record. The longest tennis singles marathon happening on the 25 April, kicking off at 07:30 a.m. At Court 18 at the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us today about your journey? I'm sorry. Looking forward to seeing this record happen?
Glenn [00:26:22]:
No, I don't think so, Belinda. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak about it and get it out there and I hope people can particularly get behind Movember and maybe follow the event and see how we go and watch us decline both physically and mentally as we progress, progress through the event. If nothing else, it's interesting from that point of view to see a couple of people grumble.
Belinda [00:26:53]:
Well, I wish you all the very, very best. Thank you for joining this event and raising awareness for a much needed charity in Movember. Obviously, as I said, all those links are to help Glenn and Movember will be available as well as his website and the socials for you to play. So to follow along, I was going to say to play along here to play along. And also if you have got some time to go and volunteer, please like, please get in contact with the glen. And also if you just want to come down and say hi and have a bit of a dance and a.
Glenn [00:27:29]:
Drink, that would be wonderful.
Belinda [00:27:32]:
Fantastic Glen. Well, all the very best. I feel like I'm going to have to get you back onto the show after the event, Jasper, we can have a quick check in and to see how successful.
Glenn [00:27:44]:
Sounds great.
Belinda [00:27:45]:
What number you're actually here. I look forward to it.
Glenn [00:27:48]:
Wonderful. Thanks Belinda.
Belinda [00:27:49]:
Thanks Glenn. All the very best.
