Cyril Maloba: The math teacher who refused to stop
Education
By
Caroline Chebet
| Jul 01, 2026
At 5:01am on Sunday, the clock hit the 45-hour mark for Nakuru Mathematics teacher Fenwick Malobah. He had officially completed a gruelling teaching marathon that began at 8am on Friday, putting him in a position to claim bragging rights in the Guinness World Records, once the attempt is ratified.
As dawn broke, Malobah was delivering his final lesson of the historic run, Commercial Arithmetic. Despite the heavy physical toll of the past two days, he pushed through with a sudden surge of vigour, guiding his final cohort of students through the topic. “45 hours ago, it was only a dream, now it is a reality. It is possible,” he concluded.
After officially finishing his attempt, Malobah thanked the class, prayed and delved into some of the immense challenges he encountered. “Two years ago, I had a dream of breaking a record, and I did not know how. It has been rocky, but we have made it. In January, we were to attempt this, but it was postponed,” he recalled.
He particularly recounted the mental and physical wall he hit a few hours after officially beginning the attempt, where the reality of endurance test set in. “Friday night was one of the most challenging. I was really tired and almost gave up by around 2am, but somehow pulled through,” Malobah confessed.
Behind Malobah’s resilience was a dedicated team managing logistics since January. To survive the two-day teaching marathon, Malobah’s intake was meticulously planned by a nutritionist on standby to keep him awake, alert, and moving through the strict four-hour blocks.
When the clock finally stopped, the planning committee and supporters could not hide their joy after sleepless nights spent cheering on their colleague. “It is like we all won. Watching a dream manifest is one of the most fulfilling things,” the Chief Coordinator of the event, Ms Lizzie Wainaina, said.
“One thing that stood out is how Malobah got a strong team to support his dream and dared to dream. It is one of the most inspiring things I have ever witnessed. When you dream, you will always find a community for support,” she said.
Teachers planned the shift transitions, former students streamed in to register for the classes, and meals were organised for the learners. Simon Arasa, one of the committee members, said the school was thrilled to be part of history in the making.
“We are really happy for this win, especially in proving that Mathematics and sciences are not as tough as people think, they are doable. Mr Malobah has championed and showcased this very well,” Mr Arasa said.
The team focused on keeping the teacher hydrated just enough to see him through the four-hour blocks, ensuring his voice and stamina did not fail as the hours wore on.
But the teamwork did not start during the attempt; the physical conditioning began weeks earlier, when his family was involved in the preparations, helping him adjust to a routine that would eventually help him hit his target.
“He has spent the last two weeks preparing his body and mind at home through a light diet to build physical stamina, alongside intense paperwork, lesson planning, and sourcing equations late into the night. He is a very focused person who always works to get what he wants,” his wife, Kagweria, said.
Anne Lang’at, a member of the planning committee, noted that safeguarding Malobah’s health required round-the-clock vigilance.
“Forty-five hours is not a joke. The teacher requires someone on standby in case of an emergency, so we had to find a nurse. We also had to find a nutritionist to monitor the meals he was supposed to take, because he had to go for 4 hours without stopping. We have worked as a big team, printing the questions, arranging the hall, and engaging stakeholders,” Lang’at said.
By 1pm on Saturday, Mr Malobah had covered 29 hours of continuous teaching, breaking only for short, regulated rests after every four hours. Per the strict Guinness World Records rules, every class had to maintain a minimum of 10 learners at all times, which organisers strictly adhered to. Because students cannot sit through several days of lecture, they were rotated out in shifts, with fresh groups of learners entering the room to keep the audience awake and engaged.
By 2:16pm, the next cohort joined in, and with them, this writer stepped in as one of the two mandatory independent witnesses for the session. This session marked the 8th class since the attempt kicked off on Friday morning.
Because the sessions are strictly rotational, no class could be left empty at any time. The new cohort had to carefully enter and replace the previous students in their seats so as not to flout the exercise. The witnesses were replaced on a similarly rigorous schedule. To maintain continuous monitoring, the previous team of witnesses had to sit through the break session until the teacher returned to the classroom. This allowed us to calculate and log the exact, uninterrupted timeline of when the teacher logged out and stepped back in.
To qualify for this role, a witness must be over 18, independent, unrelated to the participant, unaffiliated with the organising company, and have no personal stake in the outcome. Our job was to observe the entire attempt, verify every specific guideline, and complete the official Witness Statement Form, confirming our credentials and details for future GWR verification.
We had to ensure Mr Malobah was genuinely lecturing, explaining, and actively teaching recognised academic topics within the curriculum, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and statistics.
Our lesson started at 2:17pm, with Mr Malobah introducing Pythagoras’ Theorem. Unlike ordinary classes, the students did not carry books inside. Instead, they found specialised booklets stamped with the Guinness World Record logo, alongside pens, geometrical sets, and calculators waiting on the tables.
Throughout the session, Mr Malobah kept the class intensely interactive, moving around the room to mark questions and offer explanations. To maintain his stamina, he constantly hydrated and snacked on dates, walking the floor to check on the students’ progress.
Then came the moment. A few minutes past 3pm, Mr Malobah officially surpassed the current longest mathematics lesson, which stood at 31 hours, 42 minutes, and 54 seconds—a record set by Nigerian mathematician Sanusi Kazeem on April 12, 2025.
But because the marathon was continuous, there was no time for a grand celebration, and the class had to go on. The entire attempt was being filmed on an uninterrupted video feed, and the clock was still ticking.