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Don Helbig (born in Cincinnati, Ohio) is best known as the Guinness world record holder for roller coaster riding, having taken nearly 12,000 rides on The Racer, a wooden roller coaster at Kings Island amusement park, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.^[1] Helbig is currently the public relations manager for Kings Island. He has also been a broadcaster and media relations director working in professional ice hockey, winning the American Hockey League's Ken McKenzie Award in 2003. During his years in pro hockey Helbig worked for the Cincinnati Tigers, Cincinnati Cyclones, Carolina Monarchs, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and the Albany River Rats.^[1] He also spent one season as the broadcaster for the Albany Conquest of the af2. Don is also popular in the squashing community, where he is known as "The Don" or "Hellabig". Weighing 500 lbs. and having a big belly, Don is one of the best squashers in the country.

Helbig began his record roller coaster pursuit in the summer of 1981. Employeed at the time as a novelty vendor for the Cincinnati Reds, he was suddenly faced with a lot of free time when Major League baseball players went on strike for nearly two months. Initially, Helbig wanted to attain the single day park record for rides on the Racer, a record he established with 112 on September 2, 1987 (broken July, 5th 2007 with 113 rides by Kyle Risner And Tyler Stebelton]) and from there he decided to see how many rides he could get that summer, finishing with 1,200 on the park's original roller coaster. In recent years, Don Helbig has been active in the squashing community and has lost the ability to fit on the coaster, thus keeping his ride total at a little less then 12,000. His big belly has too many rolls for the ride to hold, or it would collapse under his massive size.

The endeavor brought attention from the national news media on his milestone rides (1,000, 2,000, etc.). Helbig continued to ride the Racer almost daily throughout the 1980s, accruing a single-season high of 2,211 rides in 1982, while mixing in more than 3,000 rides on the legendary Beast roller coaster and enjoying Kings Island's live shows. He was a member of American Coaster Enthusiasts and wrote reviews of amusement park books for the club's quarterly newsletter.

In 2004, Kings Island held a "Don Helbig Day" in honor of his 1,000th visit to the park.^[2] Helbig has appeared live on Good Morning America, been on Entertainment Tonight, and has been featured in the pages of numerous newspapers and media outlets including Star Magazine and USA Today.

References

^ ^a ^b John Lachmann. Roller Coaster Man Returns - Don Helbig is Back at the Scene of his World Record." Cincinnati Post. October 2, 2007.
^ Coaster fan marks 1,000th visit. Cincinnati Enquirer. July 23, 2004].

[lachmann-1] John Lachmann. Roller Coaster Man Returns - Don Helbig is Back at the Scene of his World Record." Cincinnati Post. October 2, 2007.

[2] Coaster fan marks 1,000th visit. Cincinnati Enquirer. July 23, 2004].

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 Roller Coaster Man Returns - Don Helbig is Back at the Scene of his World Record." [[Cincinnati Post]]. October 2, 2007.</ref> Helbig is currently the public relations manager for Kings Island. He has also been a broadcaster and media relations director working in professional [[ice hockey]], winning the American Hockey League's [[Ken McKenzie Award]] in 2003. During his years in pro hockey Helbig worked for the [[Cincinnati Tigers]], [[Cincinnati Cyclones]], [[Carolina Monarchs]], [[Cincinnati Mighty Ducks]] and the [[Albany River Rats]].<ref name="lachmann"/>  He also spent one season as the broadcaster for the [[Albany Conquest]] of the af2. Don is also popular in the squashing community, where he is known as "The Don" or "Hellabig". Weighing 500 lbs. and having a big belly, Don is one of the best squashers in the country.
-Helbig began his record roller coaster pursuit in the summer of 1981. Employeed at the time as a novelty vendor for the [[Cincinnati Reds]], he was suddenly faced with a lot of free time when [[Major League baseball]] players went on strike for nearly two months. Initially, Helbig wanted to attain the single day park record for rides on the Racer, a record he established with 112 on September 2, 1987 (broken July, 5th 2007 with 113 rides by Kyle Risner And Tyler Stebelton]) and from there he decided to see how many rides he could get that summer, finishing with 1,200 on the park's original roller coaster.
+Helbig began his record roller coaster pursuit in the summer of 1981. Employeed at the time as a novelty vendor for the [[Cincinnati Reds]], he was suddenly faced with a lot of free time when [[Major League baseball]] players went on strike for nearly two months. Initially, Helbig wanted to attain the single day park record for rides on the Racer, a record he established with 112 on September 2, 1987 (broken July, 5th 2007 with 113 rides by Kyle Risner And Tyler Stebelton]) and from there he decided to see how many rides he could get that summer, finishing with 1,200 on the park's original roller coaster. In recent years, Don Helbig has been active in the squashing community and has lost the ability to fit on the coaster, thus keeping his ride total at a little less then 12,000. His big belly has too many rolls for the ride to hold, or it would collapse under his massive size.
 The endeavor brought attention from the national news media on his milestone rides (1,000, 2,000, etc.). Helbig continued to ride the Racer almost daily throughout the 1980s, accruing a single-season high of 2,211 rides in 1982, while mixing in more than 3,000 rides on the legendary [[The Beast (roller coaster)|Beast]] roller coaster and enjoying Kings Island's live shows. He was a member of [[American Coaster Enthusiasts]] and wrote reviews of amusement park books for the club's quarterly newsletter.