Don Helbig (born in Cincinnati, Ohio) is best known as a Kings Island enthusiast who holds several riding records at the park, including a

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the most nonconsecutive rides on a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

.John Lachmann. Don Returns - Don Helbig is Back at the Scene of his World Record." Cincinnati Post. October 2, 2007. He later became the public relations manager for Kings Island in 2007, and was so until 2023. , Helbig has taken over 12,000 rides on The Racer, generally recognized as a world record. Helbig was hired as the Kings Island public relations manager in 2007. He has also been a broadcaster and media relations director working in professional ice hockey, winning the American Hockey League's

Ken McKenzie Award The Ken McKenzie Award is presented annually to an individual who accomplished the most during the season in promoting his or her American Hockey League team, by marketing and public relations. The award is named for Ken McKenzie, the co-founder an ...

in 2003. During his years in pro hockey, Helbig worked for the

Cincinnati Tigers The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional Negro league baseball team that was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founding The club was founded in 1934 in sports, 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, who was the first African American to win an individual Olympic Ga ...

Cincinnati Cyclones The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heritage Bank Cen ...

, Carolina Monarchs, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

. He also spent one season as the broadcaster for the

Albany Conquest The Albany Firebirds were a professional arena football team of the AF2 based in Albany, New York. Albany was granted an expansion team in 2002 and began play as the Albany Conquest. The Firebirds played their home games at the Times Union Cente ...

of the af2. Helbig began his pursuit of setting records on the Racer on June 15, 1981. Employed at the time as a novelty vendor for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, he found free time during a Major League Baseball strike that lasted nearly two months. Initially, Helbig wanted to attain the single day park record for rides on the Racer, which was previously 96 set in 1976. On August 9, 1981, he broke the record finishing the day with 97 rides. On September 1, 1982, he broke his own record with 111 rides. Years later on September 2, 1987, he established the current record of 112. In addition to the single-day riding record, Helbig also pursued the goal of reaching 10,000 nonconsecutive rides – a feat he accomplished by 1990. 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 is a member of

American Coaster Enthusiasts American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) is a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks. Dues-paying members receive the ...

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.Coaster fan marks 1,000th visit
'' The Cincinnati Enquirer''. July 23, 2004. Helbig has appeared live on ''Good Morning America'', been on ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

'', and has been featured in the pages of numerous newspapers and media outlets including ''Star Magazine'' and '' USA Today''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helbig, Don 1962 births Living people People from Cincinnati Kings Island