Val Skelly is about to play hockey for 242 hours straight, so why is she sweating about 15 seconds?
Because that quarter of a minute could mean the difference between just being really tired and sore when the final whistle blows and setting a new world record for the longest continuous hockey game.
Skelly is the organizer of the Longest Game for CF, a marathon match being played by 40 women at Burnaby 8 Rinks to raise awareness and money for Cystic Fibrosis.
On the game's roster are Coquitlam's Deanna LaRocque and Julie Makranyi.
When the puck drops at 8 a.m. next Friday to begin the game it will be the culmination of Skelly's lifelong association with the genetic disorder that destroys the lungs and digestive system, usually killing its sufferers before they're 28 years old.
Her father Bill had forged a relationship between Kinsmen clubs in Canada and CF that has raised tens of millions of dollars since 1963.
When Skelly was 17, she came face-to-face with the disease while working a summer job at a camp for kids coping with CF.
She became close friends with one of the campers, staying in touch for 10 years until her friend succumbed to the disease.
"Not a lot of people know what CF is about, people who have it don't look sick," says Skelly. "I decided one day I'm going to do something big for CF."
For more information, go to www.longestgame4cf.com
