HALF MOON BAY -- An Oregon farmer's pumpkin shattered the all-time record at the 34th annual Half Moon Bay World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off by more than 300 pounds Monday, tipping the scales at 1,524 pounds to claim the top prize.

However, it fell a bit short of the world record of 1,689 pounds set earlier this year at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts and the 1,662-pound gourd at a weigh-off in Iowa.

Still, Thad Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., was overjoyed at his victory at the annual competition held in the coastal community south of San Francisco.

"I'm ecstatic," said Starr, who was competing for just his second year. "I'm very, very happy. You always want to hope. You always want to dream. That's why we do this."

Starr also ended the three-year reign of Joel Holland, of Puyallup, Wash., who finished second with a pumpkin weighing 1,384 pounds -- a new personal record. Oregon's Jim Sherwood was third at 1,343 and Napa's Leonardo Urena was the top local farmer coming in fourth at 1,295 pounds.

All four shattered the previous record at Half Moon Bay of 1,229 pounds.

Starr will receive $9,144 for his record-setting pumpkin. He won $6 for each pound of pumpkin.

Before the contest, Holland had been extremely confident as he stood in front of his pickup truck, his massive gourd in the back covered in wet blankets.

"We are feeling pretty good," said Holland. "It should be a new personal record for us. Hopefully we can get into the 1300-pound range."

Sherwood, who also grows oversized tomatoes and sunflowers, was also confident of his chances.

"It's all done by our genetic research and making sure you pick the right seeds that tend to weigh heavy," Sherman said. "Everybody's pumpkin always looks bigger, but you don't know until you get on the scales."

While the farmers were squaring off for top honors, other entries were simply there to take part like Samantha, Whitney, Brandon and Jacob from Mountain View's Frank Huff School. They grew their 319-pounder as a class project.

"It did pretty good," Jacob said.