A high school teacher in Kenya has just rewritten the record books — and he did it by doing exactly what he does every day, only for a very long time.

Fenwick Cyril Maloba, a 35-year-old mathematics and physics teacher at Menengai High School in Nakuru County, has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest mathematics lesson taught by an individual, after delivering a continuous 45-hour class. The marathon shattered the previous benchmark of 31 hours, 42 minutes and 54 seconds, set in April 2025 by Nigerian student Sanusi Kazeem.

A Lesson That Outran a Weekend

Maloba's attempt began at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, June 26, 2026, on the Menengai High School campus. Under Guinness adjudication rules, he was permitted only short scheduled breaks — five minutes for every hour taught — and had to keep teaching genuine, structured mathematics content the entire time. Students rotated through the classroom in shifts, and a panel of witnesses, timekeepers and videographers documented every minute.

Forty-five hours later, Maloba stepped away from the chalkboard to applause from colleagues, family and former students who had gathered to see the final hour.

"I am grateful to God, to my students, to my school, and to everyone who walked this journey with me," Maloba said in a statement after completing the feat. He framed the attempt as a tribute to teachers and to the power of mathematics education in his country.

How a Teacher Trains for a Marathon Lesson

Reaching 45 hours of continuous teaching is, in its own way, an athletic feat. Maloba spent months preparing — rehearsing lesson plans, building stamina, working with nutritionists on what he could safely eat during the short breaks, and lining up doctors to monitor his vitals. His curriculum during the attempt drew from across the Kenyan secondary school syllabus: algebra, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, probability, and applications of mathematics in physics and everyday life.

Observers noted that he kept his voice steady throughout, paused for clarifying questions from students, and switched topics to keep both himself and the audience engaged. By the early hours of Sunday morning, the lesson had taken on a quietly celebratory atmosphere as the previous record fell and Maloba pushed on into uncharted territory.

A Win for Teachers — and for Math

The record carries weight beyond the classroom. Across much of the world, mathematics is the subject students most often say they struggle with or fear. Public-facing celebrations of math teachers are rare. Maloba's attempt — staged in a state-funded Kenyan high school, with his own students as the audience — flips that script: it puts a teacher front and center as the world-record holder, and it does so in front of the very community his work serves every day.

Guinness World Records is expected to formally certify the result after reviewing the evidence package submitted by the adjudicators. In the meantime, Menengai High School has already begun receiving messages of congratulation from across Kenya and from teachers' associations abroad.

Maloba has said he hopes the attention will translate into more investment in math and science teaching in Kenya, and more visibility for educators in general.

"This was never just about a record," he told local media. "It was about showing what one teacher and one classroom can do."

At the end of his 45-hour lesson, the answer was on the chalkboard for everyone to see.