Anoka man sets pumpkin weight record in California with 2,560-pound gourd
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. -- It's very fitting: A Minnesota man from the "Halloween Capital of the World" has set a North American pumpkin weight record.
On Monday, the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weight-Off was held in Half Moon Bay, California. There, Travis Gienger of Anoka was crowned the "pumpkin king" after his gourd weighed in at record-setting 2,560 pounds.
Gienger's "Rhinoceros-sized mega-gourd" beat the second-place winner by 135 pounds, and was good enough to set a new North American record, the event said.
According to the event's website, the first-place winner gets $9 a pound, which means $23,040 for Gienger's pumpkin weight.
The pumpkin was short of the world record, which would have scored a $30,000 prize.
