Jacksonville Beach — For the second time in his life, Kurtis Loftus has set the Guinness World Record for Longest Surf Marathon.
The first time he set the record was roughly 10 years ago, but that record was eventually broken. He did it this week in Jacksonville Beach with the goal of raising money for a new music and light show at the annual Deck the Chairs event during the holiday season.
Loftus says this time the conditions were just about perfect.
“My goal was 480 waves, and at 12 hours in I had already gotten to 300 waves,” he says.
He says he caught more than 600 waves total and spent 33 hours in the water.
Training was the key.
“I’ve been pretty much working out and prepping myself for a while, since the beginning of the year almost,” Luftus say.
He picked October for a variety of reasons, saying the waves are usually pretty good in Jacksonville Beach, the water temperature is nice and the beach isn’t as crowded is it is during the summer months.
But night surfing is a bit of a challenge.
“Everything about night can be a negative to the head space,” Luftus says. “You’re mind starts to wonder a little. You don’t really want to be there. It’s not the best conditions. And you’ve got critters.”
He says the physical training helped get his body ready for setting the record. But accomplishing something like that is a real challenge mentally.
“I got out in the water and it wasn’t but half an hour into it, and I thought you know what, I’ve got this thing. I’m going to be able to do it,” he says. “So that was reassuring.”
He says Deck the Chairs is an event that’s really close to his heart. Due to the pandemic, fundraising hasn’t been as easy and they really need a new $50,000 music and light show. So this was a chance for him to raise some of that money.
“Everything was tied to a fundraiser for Deck the Chairs because we’ve got this little bit of a hole to fill this year and we’re trying our best to get that taken care of,” Luftus says.
You can head here if you’re looking to contribute.
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