WATCH ABOVE: 82-year-old Vic Kleman loves roller coasters! He’s especially crazy about the Jack Rabbit in Kennywood Park, Pennsylvania.
TORONTO – An 82-year-old man has finally completed a lifetime goal of riding his favourite roller coaster 5000 times — and he did it with 95 consecutive rides on its 95th anniversary.
Roller coaster enthusiast Vic Kleman first began tracking his rides on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, an amusement park near Pittsburgh, in 1959. His previous single-day record was 57 consecutive trips but with the coaster celebrating 95 years over the Memorial Day holiday, it seemed only fitting that Kleman set a new record.
The member of American Coaster Enthusiasts avoided food and water leading up to Sunday’s thrilling marathon to avoid bathroom trips. He began just before 11:00 a.m. Sunday and spent just over eight hours riding the rails until he reached his goal.
Built in 1920 at a cost of $50,000, according to the American Roller Coaster Database, the Jack Rabbit may look its age. But you might not know it sitting on the coaster.
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“The rider experience hasn’t changed in 95 years, and it’s remarkable,” Bill Linkenheimer, another enthusiast, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
As for Kleman’s age, it hasn’t stopped him from smiling like a child every time he visits the park.
“The thrill of riding the Jack Rabbit never gets old for me,” Kleman told KDKA. “It just makes me feel good.”
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