Скачать или смотреть 100 Rides on the Looff Carousel's 100th Birthday at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

On August 3, 2011, I rode the Looff Carousel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for 100 consecutive cycles to celebrate the attraction's 100th anniversary. The impetus for the marathon came simply from my passion for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and wanting to personally celebrate the carousel's historic milestone. After discovering that the park was not planning to particularly do anything specific on the ride's actual 100th anniversary (August 3, 2011) but instead celebrate all year-long, this motivated me to come up with the crazy idea of riding it 100 times in a single day.

Starting at 11am and finishing 12 hours and 7 minutes later, I was visited throughout the day by dozens of Boardwalk staff, including Park President Charles Canfield, and finished the feat mere minutes after the park officially closed at 11pm live on local news. And for those wondering, I was "saddle sore" for a week. All on-ride footage was shot by my self using a flip video camera and all off-ride shots were filmed by Kris Reyes, the Boardwalk's Director of Strategic Development & External Affairs.

At the completion of my marathon, Boardwalk staff surprised me with a variety of gifts, most notably a plaque commemorating the milestone made out of a piece of wooden from the park's historic Giant Dipper roller coaster (which also happens to be my favorite). While I already loved the Boardwalk before this marathon, almost all of the countless staff who came by to cheer me on throughout the day have become some of my most cherished friends. It was certainly a day that I will never, ever forget.

A very special thanks to everyone at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk who supported me in this endeavor, as well as to my family for being sane enough to let me do this.

News coverage:    • 100 Reasons To Get Dizzy In Santa Cruz   and    • Teen Rides Boardwalk's Carousel 100 Times ...  

Edited by Kris Rowberry in 2013.