A giant pumpkin named Rocky gives a champion grower his California comeback

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — A pumpkin named Rocky won a major annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California, tipping the scale at 2,389 pounds (1,083 kilograms), but fell far short of a possible new world record set just days earlier in Rhode Island.

Horticulture teacher Travis Gienger hauled his pumpkin across the country from Minnesota to win the contest for a fifth time. He’s going home with $21,501 in prize money after beating dozens of other giant pumpkin-growers in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

He missed out on last year’s contest because his pumpkin broke while growing. Hoping for a comeback story, he named this year’s pumpkin “Rocky” after the iconic boxer played by Sylvester Stallone.

“Five-time champion, that’s what we came here to do,” Gienger said following the win.

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Meanwhile on Saturday, a new world record for the heaviest pumpkin appears to have been set by Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, at a contest in New England. His giant squash weighed 3,156 pounds (1431.5 kilograms) — nearly the weight of three concert grand pianos. It hasn’t yet been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, which lists a 2,857-pound (1,296-kilogram) squash grown by Ian Paton, of Lymington, England. That record had been set only a few days earlier.

“My hat’s off to him, that’s a big pumpkin,” Gienger said.

Gienger grows his gourds in his backyard pumpkin patch in Anoka, a city on the banks of the Mississippi River north of Minneapolis, according to Ronan Fowler, the competition’s organizer. This year, Gienger had to deal with temperatures that dipped below freezing, and he says that in order to start competing more seriously, he’ll likely have to start growing pumpkins in a climate-controlled environment.

“The fact that Travis can weather the elements, like 30-degree weather, and still grow this massive pumpkin is pretty unbelievable,” Fowler said.

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Gienger and his family drove 35 hours over the weekend to get the pumpkin the size of a small car to California.

Hundreds attended the 53rd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off to enjoy food trucks, music, and pumpkin-related jokes. Earlier in the day, the crowd went wild when a very symmetrical pumpkin named Tinkerbell won the prettiest pumpkin contest.

The prize money was calculated at $9 per pound of pumpkin and Gienger’s winning gourd will be showcased during a parade through Half Moon Bay this weekend. Gienger missed out on an extra prize of $30,000 for breaking the world record.

Sadly, these giants are grown for their size, not flavor, so there were no giant pumpkin pies at the end of the festival.