Forty women have been playing hockey for seven days straight at Canlan Ice Sports in Burnaby, B.C., in the hopes of breaking the Guinness record for the longest continuous hockey game every played to raise money for cystic fibrosis.

The women, divided into two teams of 20, play in four-hour shifts, grabbing sleep whenever they can.

The puck dropped on Aug. 26 and the women plan to play until Sept. 5 — for a total of just over 10 days. They plan to beat the current record, set in Edmonton in February by a charity raising money for cancer, by 65 minutes.

The record attempt was inspired by Vallerie Skelly, who wanted to do "something ridiculous" to raise awareness for cystic fibrosis in honour of her friend Lucia and Eva Markvoort, who both died of the disease in their 20s.

Markvoort shared her battle with cystic fibrosis in the award-winning documentary 65_RedRoses.

"It's in honour of her and everyone who suffers from cystic fibrosis," Skelly said.

Cystic fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease that affects children and young adults. It causes a build-up of mucus in the lungs and leads to severe respiratory problems. Most cystic fibrosis deaths are due to lung disease.

Bill Markvoort, Eva's father, said it's an effort his daughter would have loved.

"We are continually in admiration for how Eva's story continues to unfold in so many manifold ways ... we just continue to benefit from it, by these wonderful people doing these wonderful things," he said.

Martina Meckova, director of the Vancouver/Lower Mainland chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, said the women need the support of the community to make the event successful.

"It's not going to be easy and we need an army of volunteers to make this happen," she said.

The game is open to spectators 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Entry is by donation. The group hopes to raise $400,000. All proceeds benefit Cystic Fibrosis Canada.