Man Paddles 61 Kilometers in Home-Grown Pumpkin
Sixty-year-old Duane Hansen from Nebraska is old enough to know he shouldn't be playing with his food.
But that didn't stop him from completing an extremely unusual — and record-breaking — challenge using a fruit.
According to News Channel Nebraska, Hansen set a new world record in August 2022 by paddling more than 61 kilometers down the Missouri River in a pumpkin.
Not a plastic pumpkin, or one made from wood — a real one, like one that might sit outside a house at Halloween.
Well, like that, but much bigger. Hansen has spent years trying to grow large pumpkins, and this one weighed over 380 kilograms.
He even gave it a name — Berta.
He cut off the top and made himself space to sit inside, then used a kayak paddle to move in the water.
This was not the most comfortable way to get from the city of Bellevue to Nebraska City, in the center of the US.
The journey took around 11 hours as Hansen traveled over 20 kilometers further than the 2016 record — set by Rick Swenson, also from the US — although Guinness World Records has not yet confirmed the result.
Hansen told News Channel Nebraska that the hardest part was keeping water out of the pumpkin as boats sent waves his way.
He said: "The boats leave the waves and you've got to stop everything and just hold on and ride with those waves. That was bad."
Hansen added that he was not planning a second journey. But his wife, Allyson, looked a little worried when she said: "I never know what's going to be next."
