The record for the world's heaviest pumpkin changed hands twice within a single week this October, ending in the hands of a Rhode Island grower whose 1,431.5 kg squash was confirmed by Guinness World Records officials on 14 October 2026.
Ron Wallace, 60, weighed his pumpkin at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off in Rhode Island on Saturday, according to the Mirror. His gourd beat a mark set only seven days earlier by Ian and Stuart Paton, twin brothers from Lymington, Hampshire, who on 3 October became the first Britons in recorded history to hold the title with a 1,296 kg pumpkin.
How the record fell twice in seven days
The Paton brothers' victory had been a genuinely rare British triumph in a sport long dominated by North American growers. Their squash, weighing the equivalent of a small car, was briefly celebrated as a national curiosity; Country Living reported that the pumpkin went on public display in Hampshire until the end of October.
The celebration was short-lived. Wallace's entry outweighed the brothers' record by nearly 200 kg, a margin that in most years would itself constitute a new world mark. The gourd was inspected by officials from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, the governing body for competitive giant pumpkin growing, before the weight was certified.
The Independent, which covered the transatlantic weighing circuit this month, noted that growers routinely transport car-sized pumpkins across continents in pursuit of records, a logistics exercise that borders on the absurd and is treated by participants with complete seriousness.
A veteran grower's third reign
Wallace is no stranger to the podium. Guinness World Records confirms this is the third time he has held the heavyweight pumpkin title. He first broke the world record in 2006 with a 681.3 kg squash, then again in 2012 with a pumpkin weighing 911.27 kg.
He has spent 35 years growing giant gourds, a discipline that blends horticultural science with obsessive patience. Growers monitor soil chemistry, manage irrigation to the litre, and protect a single fruit through an entire growing season in the hope that it survives to the scales.
Describing the moment his pumpkin was weighed, Wallace said: