Grand Rapids Duo Shatters Pickleball Singles Marathon Record with 28-Hour Epic

"I think at a certain point, your brain just shuts off and you're on autopilot. I might as well have blacked out for the middle 20 hours."

Two guys from Grand Rapids just did something absolutely wild: they played pickleball for 28 hours straight and broke a Guinness World Record in the process.

Brad Haverkamp and Caleb Dang, who met through the local pickleball community, decided to take on the singles marathon record in late November, and they absolutely crushed it. The previous record sat at roughly 24 hours.

They didn't just beat it; they obliterated it by playing four additional hours and putting serious distance between themselves and the old mark.

The Mental Game Is Harder Than You'd Think

Here's the thing about playing pickleball for 28 hours straight: your body might hold up, but your mind? That's a different story entirely. Caleb described the experience with brutal honesty.

"I think at a certain point, your brain just shuts off and you're on autopilot," he told a local ABC News affiliate.

"I might as well have blacked out for the middle 20 hours of that attempt."

Caleb admitted he didn't do much specific preparation for the attempt either. Sure, he's an avid pickleball player who hits the court regularly, but there's really no way to prepare yourself for 28 hours of continuous play with zero sleep. You just kind of show up and hope your body cooperates.

Brad took a different approach to the mental challenge. He went in with a clear mindset: break the record and then put some distance between the old mark and when they stopped.

"You plan, you prepare, you make sure you have the food ready, you figure out how you want to use your break time and then you just keep going," Brad explained.

That methodical approach clearly worked, because not only did they break the record, but Brad also dominated the competition. He won 87 of the 141 games they played during the marathon.

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The Guinness Rules Are Surprisingly Specific

If you've never looked into Guinness World Record rules for marathon-style competitions, here's what you need to know: they allot you five minutes of break time for every uninterrupted hour you play. So if you play for three hours straight, you bank 15 minutes of break time that you can use whenever you want.

Caleb and Brad used a three-hours-on, 15-minutes-off cycle throughout their attempt. Even with those breaks, though, Caleb felt like the time was never quite enough.

"By the time you change your shoes, go to the bathroom, and stretch out, you're back on court," he said. That's the reality of a marathon like this. Those 15-minute breaks disappear faster than you'd expect.

Brad tried to maximize his nutrition during play itself. Whenever Caleb hit a good shot and had to chase down the ball, Brad would sprint over to his food table and grab water or shove some food down. It's a clever workaround, but it also shows just how tight the margins are when you're trying to sustain yourself for nearly a full day of continuous athletic activity.

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A Record with Purpose

What separates this record attempt from countless other athletic stunts is the charitable component. Brad lost his daughter Olivia in 2020, and the Olivia Haverkamp Early Learning Center was established in her memory. When Brad decided to attempt this pickleball marathon, he committed to making a donation to Gift of Life Michigan for each of the 24 volunteers who helped make the event happen.

"When you lose somebody you love, especially at an early age, it reminds you that tomorrow is not promised to any of us, and you want to use every day for good," Brad said.

"This felt like an opportunity to do some good while we're having fun and setting a record."

That's the kind of perspective that transforms a record attempt from a novelty into something genuinely meaningful. Sure, breaking a Guinness World Record is cool. But doing it while raising money for a cause that honors someone you love? That's the kind of story that sticks with people.