Man Celebrates 60th Birthday by Floating Down River in 846-Lb. Pumpkin to Attempt World Record
Now this is one way to celebrate a milestone birthday!
Over the weekend, Duane Hansen of Nebraska attempted to set a new Guinness World Record involving a river and a pumpkin, according to a social media post by the city of Bellevue. So, on Saturday morning, Hansen floated 38 miles down the Missouri River in a pumpkin that weighed 846 lbs.
"It's just like riding on a cork," he told Omaha World-Herald.
The current record for the longest journey by paddling in a pumpkin boat is 25.5 miles, which was set in 2018, according to the Guinness World Records website.
City of Bellevue, Nebraska/Facebook
Hansen, who's been working towards growing giant pumpkins for over a decade, said his desire to take on this unique challenge began after meeting the then-record holder at a pumpkin-growing seminar five years ago, per the Omaha World-Herald.
"Man, this is what I want to do," he recalled thinking to himself.
Since then, he spent years — and thousands of dollars — growing a pumpkin that would be large enough to achieve his goal, the newspaper reported.
"I've grown a lot of failures," Hansen told NBC News. "But this one here pulled through."
City of Bellevue, Nebraska/Facebook
Once that was complete, Hansen reached out to the Bellevue Mayor's office to ask if some city officials would serve as his official witnesses.
"It's not every day you have a guy who comes in and says he needs two witnesses to watch a pumpkin going down the Missouri River," Lisa Rybar, administrative assistant to the mayor of Bellevue told the Omaha World-Herald.
City of Bellevue, Nebraska/Facebook
And on Saturday, Hansen began his attempt around 7:30 a.m. local time, which city officials called a "unique if not slightly crazy way to celebrate his 60th birthday," which took place the previous day.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
According to city officials, he successfully arrived in Nebraska City about 11 hours after he started his mission.
"We were all cheering for him," Rybar told the Omaha-World Herald.
City of Bellevue, Nebraska/Facebook
"Congratulations Duane for smashing the world record," the city wrote on social media after his day was done. "We are proud that you started this record breaking 38 mile journey in Bellevue and it's been fun to follow along."
A spokesperson for Guinness World Records tells PEOPLE "we can confirm we have received an application for this title and attempt. We are currently awaiting evidence to review."
RELATED: Canine with 13-Inch Ears Breaks the Guinness World Record for Longest Ears on a Dog
While he waits to hopefully make his accomplishment official, Hansen feels proud of finally achieving his goal.
"I've been dreaming about this," he told NBC News.
