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There are plenty of ways to spend a Sunday at Coney Island: eating a hot dog on the boardwalk, lounging on the beach or voluntarily getting jostled around on a nearly century-old roller coaster. This weekend, a few particularly fearless New Yorkers will be choosing option three—over and over and over again.
On Sunday, August 16, Luna Park is celebrating National Roller Coaster Day with its annual Charity Coasterthon, a two-hour race that will send teams from seven local nonprofits scrambling around the amusement park to ride as many roller coasters as humanly possible.
The competition starts at 11am, when each organization will field a three-person team tasked with tackling Luna Park’s eight roller coasters repeatedly until 1pm. Riders receive a stamp after every completed ride and when time is called, officials will tally them up to determine which team managed to spend the greatest portion of its morning upside down.
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The winning organization will receive a $10,000 donation from Luna Park, while second place gets $5,000 and third place gets $3,000. Nobody goes home empty-handed either, since each remaining participating organization will receive $1,000. This year’s competitors are Art’s House Schools of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts; Brooklyn United; Children of Promise; Coney Island Sharks; The B.R.O. (Brothers Redefining Opportunity) Experience; Coney Island USA; and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“The Coasterthon is one of our favorite traditions here at Luna Park, and there couldn’t be a more fitting time to host it than on National Roller Coaster Day,” Alessandro Zamperla, president and CEO of Central Amusement International, said in a statement.
There’s another reason for coaster obsessives to celebrate this year: The Coney Island Cyclone is turning 99. The landmark wooden coaster opened in 1927, meaning Sunday’s festivities also begin the official countdown to its centennial next year.
You don’t have to be competing for $10,000 to get in on the action. Admission to Luna Park is free, with individual ride prices starting at $4, so spectators can watch the Coasterthon and then test their own stomachs on the park’s rides.