MAN PADDLES MORE THAN 60 KM IN A PUMPKIN
Step aside, ultra-marathoners: the US has a new endurance athlete.
A Nebraska man has set a new world record after he paddled 38 miles (61.15 km) down a river in a huge, hollowed-out pumpkin that he grew himself.
Duane Hansen completed his journey last week, a Facebook post said.
Photographs on social media show Hansen crouched inside the giant vegetable, which weighed 384 kg.
Officials said Hansen set off down the Missouri River at about 7:30 am and completed his journey just after 6:30 pm.
It might look like fun — but you had better not try this at home. The 11-hour voyage appeared to take a physical toll on Hansen, who named the pumpkin boat Berta.
“I went 38 miles down the river in that pumpkin without standing up, and my knees still hurt,” Hansen said.
“I probably won’t try this again,” he added with a smile. “If somebody breaks this record, I will bow down to him because he is tough.”
He told the Omaha World-Herald he had had to endure collisions with a sandbar and a rock as well as heavy rain and cold weather.
“I thought to myself, at the time: ‘I’ll just paddle harder and warm up.’ I wasn’t thinking about quitting,” he said. “I went another few miles, and it rained again. Berta has only about 8 inches [20 cm] above the water line. I’ve never paid so much attention to anything for so long in my entire life. It was tough.”
Hansen is described in the Facebook post as a “longtime Nebraska resident who enjoys growing large pumpkins, gourds and other vegetables as a hobby” who was inspired to beat the previous record after seeing another paddler attempt it.
“Seems like a unique, if slightly crazy, way to celebrate his 60th birthday, which was yesterday,” the post read.
Hansen asked city officials to bear witness to the feat so that it would be recognized by Guinness World Records.
That organization has not yet validated the results, but it predicted that it would beat the current record for “longest journey by pumpkin boat” held by Rick Swenson, who traveled 41.04 km in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 2016.
Pumpkins are famed for their ability to reach extraordinary sizes, with some varieties weighing more than 900 kg.
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