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Giant pumpkin weighing nearly 1 ton sets California record

Posted at 3:49 AM, Oct 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-15 06:49:52-04

A Northern California pumpkin hobbyist has won first place at the 46th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh Off, setting a record for the largest in California.

Leonardo Urena of Napa won $15,000 Monday when his pumpkin logged 2,175 pounds.

Weigh-off spokesman Timothy Beeman says Urena’s pumpkin is the second largest in the contest’s history. A pumpkin from Washington state weighed nearly 2,400 pounds and won in Half Moon Bay in 2017.

The 51-year-old says he took up the hobby in 2000 and says he enjoys the pumpkin growing community. He also won the Half Moon Bay contest in 2011.