HOCKEY players ran the equivalent of 20 marathons each as they broke the world record for the longest ever match.

Teams at the Old Southendian Hockey Club played more than 53 hours of continuous field hockey over the bank holiday weekend to raise money for Age UK Essex.

The club had originally set itself the challenge of 40 hours of play, but was forced to extend this after an American team broke the word record with a 50 hour match.

During the Old Southendian record attempt, which took place at the hockey club on Sumpters Way, Southend, the club heard a team from the Netherlands had just completed a match lasting 52 hours and 30 minutes.

Determined not to see their hard work go to waste, the players stayed on the pitch for a gruelling 53 hours.

They are now eagerly awaiting official confirmation that they have taken the Guinness World Record title.

Southend based Olympus Keymed backed the challenge after club member Leanne Neville, who sits on the firm's charity committee, pitched the idea.

She said: “The players really pulled out all the stops, they were fantastic. Players faced hamstring and muscle injuries but they rallied on and played through the pain.”

Mrs Neville added: “We are waiting for verification that we have got the world record, but we put the time in and have all the evidence so expect it to get confirmed soon.

“The atmosphere of the whole weekend was great, we had music playing to keep spirits up and lots of people came to support us.”

Over the 53 hour match, 32 players took to the pitch.

Two teams of 11 players were head-to-head at any one time, taking it in turns to have breaks.

The match started at 6pm on Friday and continued until 11.15pm on Sunday.

As a rule, players had to stay pitch side for the whole duration, including sleeping and eating.

Mrs Neville added: “We worked it out that each player on the pitch walked 20 marathons over the duration of the weekend and each player played about 34 hours each.

“The score was almost level the whole way through, it wasn't until almost the end that there was finally a clear winner. We were all so happy when we finished but all anyone wanted to do was sleep.

The two teams were split into the Black and Yellow team, with the Yellow team winning 336-333.

“This was a fantastic event which involved the whole community and has raised a lot of money for such a great cause."

The record attempt has already raised £11,000 for charity, with the club hoping this will increase to £15,000 as donations roll in.

Jean Robinson, from Age UK Essex said: “We were thrilled to hear that Olympus had chosen to support us. We have to raise all of our funds locally so the support from Olympus and Old Southendian Hockey club is a fantastic boost to help us raise the funds we need."