Omar, who flew to Alkhobar from London, confirmed that a record had been reached and congratulated the organizers led by Helda Shehab of Helda Marketing and Imad Assi of Puck-Arla Foods.

Hundreds of people, consisting of the young, and old men and women, began amalgamating at the venue — Wajihat Alkhobar, opposite Jarir Book Store on Alkhobar Corniche — right from 6 in the morning.

The event was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but unexpected early morning showers and a mild sandstorm played spoilsport and dampened the spirits of the colorful crowd.

It was some kind of an anticlimax because a lot of people who turned up were given to understand through the Arabic media that it was a record for the largest breakfast meal. That was, however, not the case.

The record was for the longest table in the world — not the breakfast. In any case, the breakfast was never served on the table. Because of the showers, visitors were given a breakfast pack neatly arranged in paper bags.

There were a lot of curious onlookers looking perplexed but still taking pictures with their handheld cameras. Some were looking for breakfast and gawking at the long empty table with chairs arranged on each side.

Talal Omar, a British national of Yemeni origin, was on his first visit to the Kingdom. “As the Guinness representative, I am very happy to witness this world record. This one is for the longest table. The record was held before in Finland in 2011. There the table was 163.56 meters in length. This table here in Alkhobar is 176.18 meters in length,” he said. “Please remember that the record is only for the length and not the width of the table.”

He said Alkhobar has indeed achieved the record. “We physically measured the table and checked it all up. It is according to Guinness standards. It met all our requirements. The table must be a single item. You cannot line up a number of smaller tables and claim that it is the longest table. If you pull it, it should come as one piece. It cannot be disjointed. And it should be manufactured to professional standards. This one meets global standards, so, yes, they made it,” he said. “Congrats.”

Omar said the record has nothing to do with breakfast. The organizers, however, used the opportunity to convey a very important message to the community about the significance of breakfast. “I must say this was a very intelligent idea,” he said. “To create awareness that breakfast is a very important meal….”

Saudi Arabia holds around 25 Guinness records. “We see this as a huge achievement. There is a lot of talent out here and there is a lot that could be achieved. We do encourage people to create as many records as they can because it puts your country on the world map.”

Helda Shehab, the main person behind the successful campaign, was very happy and excited. “Alhamdulillah,” she said. “We made it. This puts Alkhobar in the record books. This is what we wanted. This is what we got. This is our way of putting the focus on Alkhobar as a tourism destination.”

The record is now in the name of the dairy company Puck-Arla Foods. Casper Kluwer Hauge, one of its managers, said he was extremely pleased with the response. “This is an investment that we wanted to make and we did and it went well.”

There were many happy faces at the event. Among them was Mohammed M. Al-Sudairy who works as an administration manager at Flowserve-Alrushaid. “I am very happy for this record because I am from Alkhobar, born and brought up here. I feel proud for my city and my country,” he told Arab News while posing for a picture with the Guinness certificate.