I will stress it again and again but still it falls on deaf ears - bodies want nourishment and they want exercise. They are not inanimate objects craving sweeteners made out of fossil fuel by-products. I cannot understand how people still have smooth skin and shiny hair when they are sitting in front of a flashing screen in a darkened room knocking back energy drinks. (Actually I do understand it. They are only sixteen and are luckily in between the ‘intolerable acne phase’ that pushed them to stay indoors in the first place and the ‘starting to look sun deprived’ phase of their lives.)

Well I was having none of it. For my 24 hours staring at nothing but R6 Vegas 2 I loaded up with a good breakfast, and then chomped my way through cherry tomatoes, smoothies and high fibre home made flapjacks for the night. It kept me on top form and despite looking a little dazed in some of my last photos I think all went well. Of course I still see an MP9 bobbing about in front of my face every time I close my eyes, but I won’t put that down as lasting damage.

Okay, so back to the point of all this:

Tip no. 1: Eat and drink well.

Tip no. 2: Have a good people on your friends list that will stay with you all night and send you messages the next day saying how great it was to game with you. Even though you are pretty sure you spent hours not talking to them, replaying the same games to get them right and then yelling something totally random down the mic.

Tip no. 3: Exercise before you start. I am not a sit still kinda gal. I like to move about and as such need to expel some energy before I start out on a gaming marathon; otherwise I would give up 10 minutes into the challenge because I was bored of being in the same spot. The key to this is not giving a damn that half the punters at a huge LAN event are staring at you because you’re the only person running around a car park, or jumping up and down in the hall. They were just too shy to join in.

Tip no. 4: Have a good reason to game for that long.  And what better reason in the world could there possibly be than the opportunity to raise money for charity and become a Guinness World Record holder!

I was over the moon to be invited to game for 24 hours solidly at the i33 event. It seemed a daunting challenge at times but nothing can beat the satisfaction of being the best. Now I just need the official ‘it has been certified’ nod in my direction, and a little time to work out how I can phrase this on my CV (does ‘World Record Holder’ go under hobbies, interests, or qualifications?) Then I will be a happy little bunny indeed.