Two men, 115 casinos, 24 hours and one Guinness World Record waiting at the finish line.

In partnership with casino.org, Joel Strasser from Kuna and Garrett Smith from Meridian added their names to the Guinness Book of World Records last month for visiting the most casinos in a 24-hour period — from 3:09 p.m. on Sept. 25 to 3:09 p.m. on Sept. 26 in Las Vegas.

The previous record to beat was set in 2017 with a total of 74 casinos in 24 hours. Strasser and Smith only needed 75 to claim victory, and they blew past it. Within 19 hours, they hit 75 and thanks to extensive planning — they just kept going.

“From then on it was a matter of getting as many as we could to make sure this record couldn’t be broken again,” Smith said.

But the thing about world records is they don’t come easy — they come with tight requirements. The duo couldn’t just say they visited 115 casinos, they had to prove it.

“The Guinness rules are strict, and if you don’t follow them — you’re not going to get the record,” Strasser said.

“There have been multiple people who have attempted this record in the past 10 years who didn’t break it because they didn’t follow all the rules.”

At each property, they collected chips, vouchers and a photo, along with signatures from a witness patron and a casino employee — which turned out to be one of the hardest parts because most people gambling in Las Vegas aren’t ready at any given moment to sign a random document in the middle of a casino.

“I wasn’t going to let that stop us, I was determined to find somebody in the casino to sign for us,” Smith said.

Each casino also required a qualifying play, meaning they had to play a table game or an electronic table game for it to count.

Another major barrier was transportation. They could only travel by public transit, bike or on foot. Through multiple sponsorships, they secured a crew van, two electric bikes and a set of swappable batteries to keep moving.

“E-bikes got us around quicker in many cases than our van could get, sometimes we would have to slow down to wait for our van because they got stuck in a red light,” Strasser said.

All told, they traveled 130 miles — without ever getting in a car.

Strasser, who works for State Farm, and Smith, a UPS delivery driver, might not seem like the type for world-record marathons — but they’ve had extensive practice.

The duo competed on Season 35 of “The Amazing Race,” a reality competition series where teams of two race around the world to compete in physical and mental challenges.

They finished as runners-up, losing the $1 million prize by less than two minutes.

“We’re both in our mid-40s and not in the best shape, yet somehow we managed to come within a whisker of winning the whole season,” Strasser said.

Strasser and Smith have been best friends for decades, originally meeting in the military.

“While I was in Iraq, we had the Armed Forces Network, and we were able to watch ‘The Amazing Race,’ I was like, I’m going to be on this show — I could totally do this,” Strasser said.

That was in 2005. In 2020, they applied for the first time — and were immediately chosen, a rare sight in the world of reality TV.

“We both got really good at keeping consistency. It helped us big time on ‘The Amazing Race’ and it helped us big time on this,” Strasser said.

That experience taught them how to work under pressure, especially when there’s a time element involved.

“It was very much the style of ‘The Amazing Race.’ We had to figure out how to get from one place to another as fast as we can,” Smith said.

Both agreed the preparation for the casino record was harder than the actual challenge itself. They found all the casinos in Las Vegas and plugged them into a map, after calling each one to confirm they had table games. They ran their route twice before the official attempt, to ensure the quickest route possible.

“We were a bit nervous doing that because we thought they would think we were planning an ‘Oceans 13,’” Smith said.

Las Vegas’ casinos are purposely structured to make people get lost, so Strasser and Smith worked overtime to mark the best route to be in and out without chaos.

“All the walkthroughs came in clutch on the Strip because we memorized that maze and knew how to get from casino to casino in the quickest way possible,” Strasser said.

Their map was color coordinated so if they were ahead of schedule they could take on new territories or cut out if behind.

“We had five different route options that we could take throughout the record. In the end, we were ahead of schedule and able to add more casinos — which is what got us to 115,” Smith said.

A support crew followed them in a van, tracking progress and keeping them fed and hydrated. Friends from Boise even flew in to cheer them on, including fellow alumni from “The Amazing Race,” Scott and Lori Thompson from Season 37, who served as official witnesses.

“Everything came together — all the planning, the perfect crew — and that was the secret sauce. That’s how we broke the record,” Strasser said.

By the end, they were down $400 each after 115 casino visits.

“But we weren’t trying to win a lot of money, we were trying to make qualifying visits,” Strasser said.

Just past the 23-hour mark, the pair galloped down Fremont Street to their final stop — Circa Resort and Casino.

“We didn’t walk, we were celebrating, dancing, jumping, clapping and screaming across the street,” Strasser said.

But the celebration had to wait as a Guinness representative had to verify every signature and piece of proof before confirming their achievement.

The two were filled with equal parts excitement, relief and exhaustion when they got the thumbs up. Although the record allowed for 24 hours, they’d started at 3 p.m., meaning they’d been awake for nearly 38 hours straight.

“When he announced it, it was such a big relief and then a huge party. We had been awake for almost two days straight at that point — we were ready to sleep,” Smith said.

Smith said he would never think to do any of these crazy challenges without Strasser by his side.

“He always gets me into these crazy things and we have such a good time together. We have so much fun making fun of each other and in the end giving each other a big hug after we achieved success,” Smith said.

And after a good night’s rest, Strasser had to push Smith to his limits one more time.

“I said we’re celebrating by jumping off the Stratosphere. He said, ‘No, we’re not,’ and yes — we did,” Strasser said.

This isn’t Strasser’s first time with his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. He holds over 20 world records, many involving how many random objects he can fit into his beard, including 2,470 cotton swabs, 1,150 pipe cleaners and 600 barbecue skewers.

“I broke my first world record in 2018 and my kids thought it was cool then, but they quickly got over it,” Strasser said.

Before the casino run, the duo set another record together for the longest cornhole shot with a slingshot, achieved at Meridian High School in July. It took over 12 hours and 700 attempts, but they nailed it at 151 feet.

And they’re not done yet. Although details are under wraps, the two already have another world record in the works. Strasser also confirmed his next personal challenge — the most darts in a beard.

To stay up to date with their shenanigans, follow Strasser (@joelnert), Smith (@thepeskymrmustachio), or their joint account (@joelandgarrett) on Instagram.

“We’re not letting moss grow on this rolling stone,” Strasser said.