By a slim four pounds, Thad Starr of Pleasant Hill, Ore., has trumped his champion pumpkin from last year, winning his second Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.
Starr’s chalky-white squash beat several gigantic contenders, weighing over a half ton. Leonardo Urena of Napa came closest with his huge 1,404 pounder. Joel Holland of Sumner, Wash, won third place with a 1,262-pound pumpkin, barely edging out Jim Sherwood of Mulino, who had a 1,260-pound entry.
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“There’s no secret to growing them this big; it was just a good season,” Starr said. “You sit there while your pumpkin is being weighed and you can just hear your heartbeat.”
Held Monday morning at the I.D.E.S. Hall in Half Moon Bay, the 35th pumpkin weigh-off drew 84 competing pumpkins and hundreds of visitors from across the West Coast.
Local farmer John Muller also earned a new record, having the biggest locally grown pumpkin for Half Moon Bay, weighing an even 900 pounds.
Having won three prior pumpkin competitions, Holland said he was just happy to have another award-winning entry this year.
“Everyone’s friendly here and we get along,” Holland said. “There’s some rivalry, of course, but everyone’s just really nervous when their pumpkin is weighed.”
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