Thirty-nine hours and 55 minutes of TV-watching later, Jason Pisarik is once again the couch potato king.
Pisarik, of suburban Lombard, defended his sports-viewing title early Wednesday at the Ultimate Couch Potato Contest at the ESPN Zone sports bar.
He outsat and outwatched graduate student Noah Manly of Chicago, who conceded almost 40 hours into the competition, said ESPN Zone spokesman Brian Hanover. The contest ended just before 2 a.m. Wednesday and started at 10 a.m. Monday.
"I think they came to a respectable agreement and decided to finally end it," Hanover said. "It was grueling."
For prevailing over three challengers, Pisarik will receive a prize package valued at almost $5,000, including a 42-inch high-definition television, gift certificates and a trophy featuring a live spud. All entrants were to receive a leather recliner as long as they lasted 12 hours in the fifth-annual competition.
Pisarik, an accountant, defended his title by beating the record of 32 hours he set last year. Hanover said he is the contest's first repeat champion.
The world record of 69 hours and 48 minutes of consecutive TV watching was set in September 2005 by Canadian Suresh Joachim.