After five days and 57 movies, Netflix Movie Watching champs crowned

I get restless if a movie runs past an hour and 50 minutes long... so trying to imagine a marathon of movie watching that stretches into the triple digits of hours, well, it's almost unfathomable.

But to win $10,000 and some epic bragging rights, Suresh Joachim and Claudia Wavra sat through 57 movies in a row lasting a total of 123 hours and 10 minutes, without nodding off once. They're the dual champions of the Netflix Movie Watching Championship, which carries with it not just a hefty cash prize and a nice trophy, but a lifetime Netflix subscription to boot. (Still, one has to imagine their movie queue must be awfully short after more than five days of solid DVD viewing.)

Held in a Plexiglas house in Times Square, the event began with eight competitors at noon on October 2 and, three days later, was down to the final two, who ultimately endured to the end. Both Joachim and Wavra, who will share the record until it is inevitably broken again next year, are veteran record-breakers. Seriously: Joachim now holds 34 world records. Wavra has set the movie-watching record four times over her lifetime.

The movies began with Iron Man and included the rare double feature of The English Patient and Caddyshack. The 57th film, Thelma & Louise, was delivered by star Susan Sarandon. Guinness rules stipulate that the films had to be watched from start to final credit, with a ten-minute break allowed between films. (Sorry, no pausing DVDs for bathroom emergencies!)

Congrats to both winners... now get some sleep!

LINK: Full press release