Thrill of the Behemoth

The idea of riding on Behemoth — Canada's biggest, fastest and tallest roller coaster — may prompt many to quickly shake their heads and say "No, thanks!"

But plunging down the ride's 70-metre drop at speeds of 125 km/h on the orange mega-coaster at Canada's Wonderland, in Vaughan, Ont., just encourages Tim Hill of Holland Landing, north of Toronto, to throw up his arms and let out a whoop.

"It's just really fun, " said Hill in an interview recently while on a break from riding.

Hill, 12, is spending the summer on a mission: trying to ride Behemoth more times than anyone else.

Between keeping his route delivering Newmarket's local newspaper, The Era-Banner, and visiting friends' cottages, Hill had notched 163 rides by the end of July. Last year, when Behemoth first opened, he rode it 144 times.

Hill keeps his tally online, with CWMania.com, an independent Wonderland fan club website not affiliated with the amusement park.

Hill says he logs his ride count in his head, then goes online to update the numbers at the end of the day, when he gets home. His brother Greg, 14, who usually rides Behemoth with him, has his own cellphone and sends Tweets right from the park to his personal Twitter account to update his coaster ride count in real time.

"You get the adrenaline rush and you just want more of it so you ride it [Behemoth] again and again and again and before you know it you've ridden it 20 times in a day," Greg explains.

'Coaster riders are everybody'

While the older Hill admits it might be hard for him to prove they've actually completed that many rides — which amounts to over 15 hours of riding — some CWMania members, including Chris Uzun, 18, of Orangeville, Ont., say they can prove their Behemoth achievements.

"I've got it on my phone right there," Uzun said, pulling out his cellphone to show his data logs. "I've got 266 total, 128 this year and 138 last year. I keep track and every time I get off, I add the number right there."

The Behemoth riders are becoming celebrities at Wonderland, as many park staff know them by sight, if not by name.

"They've ridden it hundreds of times, they're crazy," marvelled Russ Montague, a former Walt Disney World official now working in special events and public relations at Wonderland. "I do it once and I'm feeling, like, 'Oh my God!' "

Wonderland officials point out that while Behemoth marathoners are teenage boys, it's not the only demographic riding the coaster. Parents, seniors and even younger children line up for what has become the park's biggest attraction.

"Coaster riders are everybody," said Dineen Beavan, manager of special events and public relations at Wonderland. "It depends on what your level of thrill seeker is, but it's a height requirement to ride Behemoth, not how old you are."

And also a question of finances. With a season's pass for Wonderland priced at about $70 in 2009, veteran roller-coaster riders say that's a good value for teens with limited income.

Coaster lovers unite

"If I was a teenaged boy, I'd be doing what they're doing," admitted Paul Schroeder, 39, of Port Credit, Ont.

Schroeder is a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, an organization with 7,000 members in Canada and the U.S.

He rode his first coasters as a child at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto and now spends most of his vacation time travelling around North America to visit theme parks.

"I use a counter online on Facebook … and if my addition is right, I'm at 297 roller coasters, " said Schroeder.

That didn't include the coasters he was planning to ride during his next road trip with seven friends in late July. Their itinerary? Nine amusement parks in five states.

For Schroeder, of  Burlington, Ont., being a coaster lover is still about the adrenaline rush, but also about the friends he has made through the club. He likened it to his parents' love of boating.

"The way I explained it to my dad is, I go there and it's more than doing the rides, it's a social thing for me, too," Schroeder said.

"I see a lot of different people and although we're from different continents and in some cases, from around the world, we all have this shared passion. At that moment, he totally understood."

Guinness-like goals

In a study of roller coasters for Psychology Today, the author explained how roller coaster riders are engaging in an activity that allows them to experience their deepest fears — especially fear of death — in a very safe manner.

But two Massachusetts-based psychologists, Brian Newmark and Michael Otto, who helped Universal Studios in Florida treat "coaster phobics," say as long as the coaster enthusiasts have balance in their lives outside the park and function normally in their work and private lives, this unusual addiction is innocuous.

"I don't think we should be concerned about it unless it's getting in the way of other achievements," Otto, now director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, told CBC News.

Otto likens what the Behemoth riders at Canada's Wonderland are doing to the competitive streak shown by some people who try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, which the psychologist calls setting "achievement goals."

"There are all sorts of things people get addicted to, but balance is important," cautioned Otto.

He also raises the concern about physical side effects to prolonged coaster riding, such as how the G-force acts on the body, although he and staff at Wonderland aren't aware of any specific problems as a result.

"I think there are some people that do hit the rides and if they've just eaten it doesn't agree with them, " said Beavan. " But as far as whiplash or getting sick that's not happened here as far as I know."

While Wonderland hasn't instituted any permanent special privileges for the Behemoth riders, the park did organize several events catering to the group of coaster aficionados.

There was an hour of Extended Ride Time (known as ERT in the coaster world) in July, when season's pass holders were allowed in an hour early solely to ride Behemoth. And there was the Behemothon, an evening of uninterrupted access for members of CWMania in June.

"I think it's really great that we have a group of people so devoted to our park and love coasters," said Beavan.