London: Christians in Frome are undertaking an unusual marathon - reading the bible non-stop for 76 hours.

Over four days, 150 people aged from nine to 90 will complete the reading in slots lasting 15 minutes.

The event is being organised by Frome Area Churches Together and will raise £1000 for the Anglican Archbishops’ Appeal for Zimbabwe. “It’s going to be quite an undertaking,” said Reverend David Brinn, Churches Together chairman. The marathon, which comprises of 66 books of the bible read in 300 sessions, will finish on Sunday, 11 October.

One of the readers was the Bishop of Taunton, Rt Revd Peter Maurice who read Genesis Chapter 30 verse 13 to the end of Chapter 32 on October 8, 2009 morning. The overnight sessions will be in St Catharine’s Roman Catholic Church and other venues will include Holy Trinity Church, St John’s Church and the Wesley Methodist and Baptist Churches.