By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

Chris and Tommy Sticha found a creative way to combine their passion for wiffleball into a fund-raiser for breast cancer and a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The brothers organized a 30-hour marathon and had roughly 70 of their classmates and friends from the south metro area show up to participate.

The first-ever Wiffleball Marathon had a combined 498 runs scored and it raised $1,200 dollars for the American Cancer Society (ACS), which was matched by Goodrich Sensor Systems of Burnsville, the employer of Sue Sticha, the brothers’ mother.

The marathon was played at the Sticha home in Prior Lake on a semi-slanted field with a tent as a backstop, a homemade scoreboard and a home run fence about 30 yards away. It started at 3 p.m. on Aug. 30, went through the night and ended at 9 p.m. the following day.

“The goal was to raise money for breast cancer and set a world record,” said Tommy, a ninth-grader. “That was our intention. Breast cancer has really affected our family and we wanted to do something to help in any way we could.”

Chris’ and Tommy’s grandparents both passed away from breast cancer, while two of their aunts and their neighbor are battling the disease that claims the lives of roughly 40,000 in the United States each year and affects roughly 183,000 women, according to the ACS.

“We tried to get the word out as best we could by sending letters,” said Tommy, an eighth-grader. “Wiffleball is the game we grew up on. It’s a family game and our family has been affected by breast cancer.”

Tommy said organizing the event was a little tougher than he thought. They had to get lights to play in the dark and into the early morning hours. They had to make sure their friends were committed and would show up at the times they were supposed to play.

Plus, they had to get the field ready and establish raffle tickets for their friends’ parents to buy for the fund-raiser.

“The work was hard, but it’s worth it,” said Tommy.

The brothers also filled out an application to the Guinness Book of World Records and waited about month before it was approved.

“We saw there’s a record in there for foosball, so why not wiffleball,” said Chris.

The Sticha’s friends were broken into two teams and they played in two-hour shifts. The score was a running total. Some played through the night. Some slept when they weren’t playing. Some didn’t. Some went home between playing shifts.Plenty of home runs were hit.

There were strikeouts, errors and great catches. More importantly, there was loads of camaraderie and a friendly, competitive spirit.

“We’ve been playing wiffleball in the backyard since I was 5 years old,” said Chris. “It’s a blast to play, but for 30 hours straight? It was for a great cause and to set a record.”