### Unless You've Been Living Under A Rock...
Those of you who are even remotely interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and maybe some of you who aren't, have probably heard that the latest installment, *Avengers: Endgame* will most likely have a total runtime of three hours and two minutes. I say probably, because Disney, Marvel's parent company, has yet to officially confirm that time, though it recently appeared on the film's AMC webpage and was later mentioned by Fandango.

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By most standards, a three hour movie is long. If true, it will be the longest MCU film made to date, eclipsing the previous record holder, *Avengers: Infinity War*, which clocked in at two hours, forty minutes. Mind you, in the case of the MCU, not only does that runtime include the ending credits, but generally up to two additional scenes that may have some kind of importance for the next film (though not always the case).

When I read about *Endgame*'s length, I started wondering about a couple of things. One, what's the longest movie ever made, and two, how many things have I done in my life that took at least three hours of it.

#### Buckle Your Seatbelts
Well, finding the longest film ever made was fairly easy. A Google search has revealed, according to Wikipedia, that a film called *Logistics*, or *Logistics Art Project*, a film released in December 2012, has that dubious distinction (and probably always will).

I dare you to guess, without looking it up, how long it is.

Nope, not even close.

Okay, I'll tell you.

51,420 minutes. That is not a misprint. Let that sink in. Put another way, that represents 857 hours, or 35 days, 17 hours.

Now I dare you to watch it all in one sitting.

In a distant second, but with nevertheless a very prodigious runtime, is *Modern Times Forever*, at 14,400 minutes (240 hours or 10 days).

#### Suddenly Three Hours Ain't That Bad
Realizing that three hours would be a piece of cake compared to days on end, I still felt like I should come up with a list of things that I have done for three hours-plus, or don't mind blocking out that amount of time to do. No doubt you've done them too, and some happily, or without thinking.

In other words, whether three hours doing something goes fast, slow, is enjoyable or a drudgery, is all relative.

#### My Three Hour Activities List

* American football—routinely, both college and pro games will run at least three hours, generally reaching three and a half hours. Admittedly, though, I will probably get up during the halftime show to do something for its duration instead of listening to the commentators babble on.

* Work on STEEM—It doesn't happen that often, I'm happy to report, but there have been a few times where I've found myself at or near three hours before getting up to take a break. Usually, it's me getting too ambitious with a post, things going horribly wrong in the process, and me being too stubborn to just let it go.

* Sleep before getting up to go to the bathroom—I throw this in even though it's normally much longer, but if I foolishly drink a bunch of water before going to bed, I'll be up at 1 AM alleviating pressure.

* Chatting with @bbrewer—He and I have known each other in the outside world for years. When the two of us get together, we can just talk for hours. This past Friday it was non-stop for nearly four hours.

* Read a book—It varies, depending on what else is going on, but I can sit hours on end reading without stopping, as long as the eyes don't start to strain.

* Write a book—I've had multiple writing sessions that went for at least three hours when I was writing the two Kindle novels I currently have up for sale.

* Research/Logistics/Itineraries—I've done this for books (especially background work), for something I want to buy, a trip I want to take, etc. I once spent untold hours figuring out how many custom built homes could fit in separate geographical areas, factoring in land use, right-of-ways, parcel sizes and home dimensions. Not because I'm an architect, a city planner or a real estate developer, but for a book I've yet to finish (but serialized on STEEM what I have) because I was trying to determine at least a range for population density on a fictional island.

I know! I'm crazy! I tell you, though, I had more fun figuring that out than I have actually writing the story (especially coming up with an ending).

* Traveling—Easily three hours, driving, flying on a commercial airliner, or riding in a greyhound bus. With the car I have now and the gas mileage it gets, I've been known to drive for four or five hours straight before stopping for gas. Watching a three hour movie in any of those instances (okay, maybe not while driving), would have come in handy.

* Preparing/Eating/Cleaning up after a meal—No, these are not things I do willingly, but yes, it's something that happens on a regular basis, and often three straight hours will go by before it's all said and done. 

* Cleaning/Moving—I try to avoid these things like the plague, but every once in a while, like what's slated for tomorrow, they're unavoidable. The cleaning is mainly instigated by my wife, but the moving can include rearranging entire rooms of furniture in our own home, or moving in/out families who attend our church's local congregation.

* Church meetings on Sunday—Until very recently, Sunday services ran from 9 am to noon. While there's usually a several minute break in between, we would still be at church for that period, and generally longer, since we would stay after for choir practice or to talk to people. Now, instead of three hours of meetings, it's only two, but we still have choir practice bumping it back up to three hours.

* Movie/Hulu binging—I'm probably in good company with this, so I won't elaborate other than to say that I have been known to have different marathons from time to time. Any of the *Stargate* television shows come to mind.

#### The Wrap Up
There's probably more on this list of three-plus hour events, but what's there should provide a good cross section of where I've devoted long blocks of time to so far in my life. So, what's another three hours and change for *Endgame*?

What kinds of things could you do for three hours straight or longer? Will you be watching *Endgame* in theaters, waiting for it to come out so you can watch it at home (or not at all)? How long is too long to sit through a movie?

<sub>[Image source—Alphacoders.com](https://wall.alphacoders.com/wallpaper.php?i=998470&w=1366&h=768&type=crop)</sub>