By Barry Sparks
 |
| Ed Sneeringer |
The aches and pains of bowling on a
team for 24 continuous hours are still fresh in Ed Sneeringer's mind 30 years
after the marathon.
Sneeringer, 68, was one of six
bowlers who set the Guinness Book of World Records for most pins knocked down
in a 24-hour period over the Labor Day weekend in 1988.
Other team members included Buck
Martin, Matt Smyser, Pat Hunter, Jeff Rishel and Corky Spencer.
The squad tallied 82,053 pins from 6
p.m., Friday, Sept. 1, through 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 2, at Colony Park Lanes
North. They eclipsed the previous record
at 5:27 p.m., slightly more than 30 minutes before the deadline.
"Unfortunately, our record only
held up for about a week," recalled Sneeringer, while competing in the
Friday morning senior league at Suburban Bowlerama. "I believe a team from Japan broke our
record."
Even though one bowler got to sit out
every fifth game, Sneeringer, a York right-hander, said bowling for 24 hours
was much harder than he anticipated.
"There was plenty of coffee and
No Doz consumed," he said. "It
was difficult mentally and physically.
After a while, we were all hurting.
It would have been easy to give up, but we kept after it."
Sneeringer said his elbow throbbed, his
cuticles were split, his fingers and wrist ached and his thumb was swollen and
bloody. He rolled 87 games, equivalent
to almost a full bowling league season, in a 24-hour period.
"I would say the final 18 hours
were pure drudgery," he said.
"We were all definitely looking forward to the end."
Sneeringer recalled that Martin
couldn't bowl for the final two hours because his thumb was rubbed practically raw,
and it was swollen so much that it would no longer fit in the ball.
After the 24-hour marathon, he went
home and collapsed in his bed. Two hours
later, he woke up with his body in an excruciating knot from muscle cramps in
every conceivable spot.
"I had to have someone help me
out of bed," he said. "I was
sore for days. I lived on over-the-counter
pain medication, and I couldn't bowl in any of my leagues that week."
Sneeringer is reminded of the feat
every day by a plaque, which was presented to each team member by Terry
Brenneman, proprietor of Colony Park Lanes North. The plaque is displayed in Sneeringer's home
office.
"The thought of competing in a
24-hour marathon has never entered my mind since," he said.
