Giant pumpkin race captures spirit of Halloween - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Giant pumpkin race captures spirit of Halloween

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SALT LAKE CITY -

Ross Bowman stood up in his giant gourd, shouting with excitement.

Finally, the pumpkin grower had a victory. "I raced last year and I came in third again. I've been third four times with my pumpkins on weight and so it's about time I got first on something," he said.

So what was his secret to winning first place for best grower in the annual Ginormous Pumpkin Regatta?

"I planted my vines so that they grew north and south instead of east and west," Bowman said.

You may also wonder how you race a pumpkin anyway?

Participants carve out all the seeds and pulp, leaving only the thick, orange shell behind.

That's where they sit and use these oars to row across the pond regatta style.

"I've never seen people riding pumpkins before, floating in them," said Ben Porter who was watching the race.

"I've never seen pumpkins floating in water before," Parker Banks, another spectator said.

"Last year, I had three pumpkins that were over 1,000 pounds and my biggest was 1174 pounds. This year, only had one over a thousand and it was 1013 pounds. So when you experiment sometimes you do good, sometimes you don't do so good," continued Ross.

And this year - Ross did better than good.

"Yeah, today I was lucky!"

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