On Monday, "hundreds of spectators' gathered in Half Moon Bay to judge the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, the annual precursor to Art & Pumpkin Festival happening on Saturday and Sunday.

"Using forklifts and special harnesses to hoist the orange competitors onto an industrial-strength digital scale, officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers and Measures determined the heaviest to be a 1,535-pound pumpkin grown by Ron Root of Citrus Heights, Calif," reports BCN (via SF Appeal).

Root won a cool $10,210 for his Atlantic Giant pumpkin and said his secret was "a lot of water, a lot of sun and a lot of luck."