Don Helbig is best known as the Guinness world record holder for roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

 riding, having taken nearly 12,000 rides on The Racer, a wooden roller coaster at Kings Island

Kings Island

Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...

 amusement park, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. 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

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, winning the American Hockey League's Ken McKenzie Award

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 and longtime president and publisher of The Hockey...

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

Cincinnati Tigers

The Cincinnati Tigers were a professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which played in the Negro Leagues. The Tigers were founded in 1934 by DeHart Hubbard, the first black to win an individual Olympic gold medal when he won the long jump during the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1937, the...

, Cincinnati Cyclones

Cincinnati Cyclones

The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Founded in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at U.S. Bank Arena....

, Carolina Monarchs

Carolina Monarchs

The Carolina Monarchs were a short-lived ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum....

, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

Cincinnati Mighty Ducks

The Cincinnati Mighty Ducks were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, at the Cincinnati Gardens.-History:...

 and the Albany River Rats

Albany River Rats

The Albany River Rats were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center.- Founding to 2010 :...

. He also spent one season as the broadcaster for the Albany Conquest

Albany Conquest

The Albany Firebirds are 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 play their home games at the Times Union Center...

 of the af2.

Helbig began his record roller coaster pursuit in the summer of 1981. Employed at the time as a novelty vendor for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

, he was suddenly faced with a lot of free time when Major League baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 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.

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

American Coaster Enthusiasts

The American Coaster Enthusiasts is an organization dedicated to the enjoyment and preservation of roller coasters. Membership is open to anyone with payment of yearly dues, and membership benefits may include discounted admission to certain amusement parks...

 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. Helbig has appeared live on Good Morning America, been on Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

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

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

.