Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - May 18, 2003
Gill Moodie
"They feel like if they could detach themselves and run away, they would," said the 53-year-old HIV-positive Van Zijl, who is trying to set a world record to raise money for Hospice South Africa.
Van Zijl started his nonstop shift at the Starlight Diner in Bellville last Friday.
If he lasts till Wednesday - taking only two hours a day to shower and to close his eyes - he will have done 300 hours in the restaurant.
A former flight steward, the Johannesburg-based Van Zijl is a veteran record-breaker in the cause of Aids awareness.
He has roller-skated from London to Edinburgh, eaten 3.8kg of calamari in four hours and played chess for 150 hours, to name a few.
It comes down to mental discipline, he said, and reckoned that out of all his feats, rowing for 100 hours was the hardest.
Van Zijl said: "Every muscle in my body hurt after that one."
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