Love is in the air with longest marathon hug

It was the perfect lead-up to Valentine’s Day for seven couples who each broke the longest marathon hug record on a stage in Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

The cuddly event, known as The Durex Great Embrace, originally began with 12 couples hugging it out to win a $20,000 diamond ring. Within the first hour four couples were disqualified for moving their hand positions, leaving the remaining eight to settle in for the long haul.

Unable to lie down, sit or even lean against a wall, the couples soon began to suffer sore feet and aching lower backs. They had begun their embraces at 7am and at around 4pm the favourites for the trophy, a couple that had been in intense cuddle training over the previous few weeks, also had to drop out as illness struck.

Then there were seven couples left to survive a long night of cuddles, and survive they did. When the sun rose over Darling Harbour, the seven pairs that had been standing the previous evening were all still in the game. Their spirits lifted as an end was finally in sight, although groans of pain and sudden leg cramps were constant companions.

After exactly 26 hours and 5 seconds of hugging, the couples released their arms simultaneously. The previous record of 25 hours, 22 minutes and 36 seconds had been smashed by over half an hour.

The new, record-holding huggers are:

• Katherine dos Remedios (26, Australia) & Christopher Jackson (29, UK)
• Lisa-Jayne Clarke (24, South Africa) & Adam Tyndall (24, Australia)
• Leah Horn (24, New Zealand) & Jack Hyles (26, Australia)
• Jamie-Lee Boardley (22, Australia) & Jamie Steven (22, Australia)
• Krystle Lucas (30, Australia) & Halit Kara (31, Australia)
• Alex-Andrea MacDonald (32, Australia) & Hayden Bell (32, Australia)
• Morgan Poinelli (27, USA) & William Robinson (28, UK)