Time FM's Mike Russell to do 125 hours non-stop

Time FM in Berkshire is to become the latest in a long line of radio stations across the world to attempt to break the record for the longest continuous radio broadcast by a single presenter.

Mid-morning show presenter Mike Russell is hoping to broadcast for 125 hours without sleep — that's five days and five hours, starting on Monday 14 May. The marathon broadcast is in aid of a local charity, Berkshire Give a Child a Chance.

The race to present the longest radio programme has been around for decades. In the 1960s, a New York presenter, Peter Tripp, attracted national media attention after he spent 201 hours broadcasting from a glass booth in Times Square.

After a few days, he is reported to have begun hallucinating cobwebs, mice and kittens. The last 66 hours of the broadcast were spent on drugs, and the marathon broadcast was not officially recognised.

One of the earliest marathon broadcasters to make it into the Guinness Book of Records was Simon Mayo, who broadcast non-stop on Radio 1 for 37 hours in 1999 to raise money for Comic Relief.

In 2000, a presenter for Chelmsford Hospital Radio, Greg Daines, notched up 73 hours and 33 minutes on-air. This was beaten the following year by US presenter Glen Jones, who reached the 100-hour mark on WFMU in Jersey City.

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire presenter Max Rushden reached the 121-hour mark in November 2004, raising money for Children in Need.

The current record is held by Italian presenter Stefano Venneri from BBSI Radio, who broadcast non-stop for 125 hours without sleep.

Under the rules set by the Guinness Book of Records, Russell is allowed a 15-minute break every eight hours. No records played must be longer than six minutes, and there are conditions governing the number of other items, such as news and ads, that can be broadcast. A doctor or nurse must be present at all times.

A Time FM spokesman said: "The doctors have advised him against the attempt, citing the dangers of sleep deprivation, with side effects such as inconsistent heartbeat, slurring, hallucinations, even temporary insanity. But Mike isn’t a man to walk away in the face of a challenge."