By Naomi Salami

On Thursday, the 11th of May, a Nigerian-born chef, social media influencer and cooking show host started a cook-a-thon to break the record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual which ended on the 15th of May, 2023. What initially started as a 96 hours cook-a-thon, turned into an exercise of 100 hours, 40 minutes.

The Guinness World Records committee has officially confirmed Hilda Baci’s record today the 13th of June, 2023. But unfortunately, it was not the expected 100 hours. According to Mark Mckinley, the official adjudicator for GWR, explained that there were miscalculations in her break periods which affected the record time. 

He said “This is a challenging record with strict rules that must be followed throughout. Including; there must be at least two items prepared or cooked at any time and the number, name and weight must be submitted with the evidence. Hilda fulfilled all of these rules, however, anyone attempting a marathon record receives a 5 minutes break for every hour that they complete. This is to allow suitable rest breaks for the participants due to the prolonged nature of these records. In this case, there was a miscalculation when it came to Hilda’s rest breaks, meaning we are unable to award the 100 hours claimed.”

Despite the removal of seven hours from the record, Hilda Baci still stands as the recent record holder for the longest cooking marathon by an individual with a confirmed record of 93 hours and 11 minutes. Although the confirmed record has many Nigerians filled with mixed feelings, many are still relieved that she was able to cook for 100 hours which gave her room for contingencies. 

Congratulations once again Hilda Baci for a job well done. You are officially amazing!

Meiza Nigeria