An Oregon man who entered Guinness World Records for paddling the longest journey in a boat made out of giant pumpkin in 2024, has already broken his own record — or should we say, squashed his own record.
Gary Kristensen from Happy Valley, Oregon, set sail in a gigantic carved-out pumpkin to paddle his way down the Columbia River for 45.67 miles in October 2024.
In May of this year, Kristensen returned to the river in a new pumpkin vessel he christened the Marchflower. Kristensen paddled for a whopping 58.57 miles to break his original record by 12.9 miles, according to Guinness World Records.
Kristensen started growing giant pumpkins in 2011. In 2013, he carved his first boat pumpkin to compete in the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta, winning several of the event’s races over the past five years.
Though Kristensen set a record with his first long-distance pumpkin journey last year, he told the folks at Guinness he knew with a new boat and a smarter strategy, he could beat his time in 2025.
“I attempted the record again because I felt like I didn’t do as well as I could have. I did the first attempt in October when the river flow is very low,” he said.
“I wanted to try in the spring when the flow in the river is better, but the big challenge is growing a giant pumpkin over the winter to have it ready by early spring,” he added. “That proved to be the biggest challenge and the one that I’m most proud of.”
Kristensen said last year’s journey gave him special insight into the river. “I learned how to pay attention to the tides better to make paddling more efficient,” he explained.
In May, Kristensen set out in his new more streamlined craft. The Marchflower, he Guinness, was smaller by 300 pounds than last year’s 1,214-pound craft, which he named Punky Loafster.
Kristensen spent a total of 20 hours in his pumpkin boat to complete this year’s journey, shaving off roughly six hours from last year’s time.
Though he broke his own record, Kristensen said he was disappointed his journey in the Marchflower, whose name honors the Mayflower ship the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean in, was not as long as he intended it to be.
“I had planned to go more than twice the distance, but the flow on the river was better, but not as good as I had hoped and I damaged the pumpkin trying to tie it off for a rest and decided to not go any further,” he said.
Now, Kristensen is determined to set sail a third time to break his record again.
“I hope to do it again soon,” he shared. “Maybe next year if I have the right pumpkin and support crew. I have big plans for how to do a better job.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
