Step aside, ultramarathoners: The US has a new endurance athlete, and he is as gourd as it gets.
A Nebraska man has set a new world record after he paddled 38 miles (61.155km) down a river in a huge, hollowed-out pumpkin he grew himself.
Duane Hansen of Syracuse, Nebraska, completed his journey last week, a Facebook post from the city of Bellevue on Saturday showed.
Photo: Reuters
Photographs on social media show Hansen crouched inside the giant squash, which weighed in at 384kg, the Facebook post said.
Officials said Hansen set off down the Missouri River at about 7:30am and completed his journey just after 6:30pm.
It might look like fun — but you had butternut try this at home. The 11-hour voyage appeared to take a physical toll on Hansen, who named the orange vessel Berta.
“I went 38 miles down the river without standing up in that pumpkin and my knees still hurt,” Hansen said in a video posted by Reuters.
“I probably won’t try this again,” he added with a smile. “If somebody breaks this record, I will bow down to them because they are tough.”
He told the Omaha World-Herald he had endured collisions with a sandbar and a rock, as well as heavy rain and cold.
“I thought: ‘I’ll just paddle harder and warm up.’ I wasn’t thinking about quitting,” he said. “I went another 4 to 5 miles [6.4km to 8km] and it rained again. Berta is only about 8 inches [20cm] above the water line. I’ve never paid so much attention 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,” and was inspired to vanquish the previous record after seeing another paddler attempt it.
“Seems like a unique if not 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.
The organization has not yet validated the results, the Washington Post said, but it confirmed it would beat the current record for “longest journey by pumpkin boat” held by Rick Swenson, who traveled 41.038km in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 2016.
Pumpkins are famed for their ability to reach extraordinary sizes, with some varieties weighing more than 900kg.
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