These Danes just set a world record for the longest hug

A loving Danish couple went to great lengths to win a 10,000 kroner Valentine's Day contest.

Published: 12 February 2016 13:08 CET

These Danes just set a world record for the longest hug

Winning couple Monica and Lars Schmidt hugged for over 40 hours. Photo: Red Carpet Photos

Monica and Lars Schmidt from the southern Jutland town of Øster Gasse set a world record in the wee hours of Friday after hugging each other for 40 hours, 43 minutes and 47 seconds, TV Syd reported.

The Schmidts were the last couple standing in a Valentine's Day contest organized by Radio Globus and and the Bredebro shopping area Toosbuys Torv. Victory came at 1.43am when the tired bodies of Padborg couple Heidi Laumann and Jesper Thomasen couldn’t hold on to each other a second longer.

The winning couple, story continues below:

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KLOKKEN 1:43:47 SKETE DET…KRAMMERIERNE FIK (desværre) EN ENDE 🙂 Det føltes så skønt med al den kærlighed i…

Posted by Café Sko on Thursday, February 11, 2016

Ten couples participated in the contest and had to stay within a circular sticker just 60cm in diameter and hold an embrace as long as possible. Organizers told The Local that contestants were given a ten-minute break every two hours.

The winning couple said their motivation for holding out so long was simple: they needed the 10,000 kroner ($1,500, €1,340).

A Facebook video shows the remaining couples fighting (and kissing) it out:

2.20 og de holder stadig ud, i den flotte smykkebutik Marschall.Vi er trætte – nok mere end deltagerne. For de gør det godtnok fantastisk, brave folk.// Café Sko

Posted by Café Sko on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

With their 40-hour-plus marathon hug, the Schmidts smashed the previous world record, which TV Syd said was 24 hours and 13 minutes.

“It was both physically and mentally hard but also really fun. The nighttime hours were extra hard but we were good at supporting each other, which is probably why we made it so long,” the couple said in a press release.

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