2,455 pounds (about 1,114 kg): Troy Vanarsdalen's pumpkin just smashed a festival record that stood for years

Circleville, Ohio, has celebrated pumpkins since 1903 — and it has never seen one like this. Grower Troy Vanarsdalen, only three years into competitive growing, wheeled in a 2,455-pound (about 1,114 kg) giant that shattered the Pumpkin Show's previous record of 1,355.5 pounds and beat last year's winner by nearly 500 pounds. It runs in the family: his 10-year-old grandson Able placed fourth with a 1,553-pound pumpkin of his own. Six months of daily care, Vanarsdalen says, go into a pumpkin like this — a 'full-time, part-time job' with a very orange payoff.