Roanoke, Va. ? A 15-year-old Virginia boy has set the North American record for reciting digits of pi.

Gaurav Raj recited 10,980 digits of the infinite number Monday, breaking the North American and U.S. record of 10,625 digits, which had stood for 27 years. Gaurav recited about two numbers per second for one hour, 14 minutes and 28 seconds during an after-school session.

It was the third time that the high school junior from Roanoke had attempted to break the record.

Gaurav says he can’t really explain his feat. “I know what the numbers are, but it’s not like I can see them,” he said. “I just know what they are.”

Pi is an infinite number representing the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter.