Vicky Richardson sets ride record in up and down day at Silverwood

Vicky Richardson set a record at Silverwood Theme Park that she is confident won’t be broken. 

At least, she vows she won’t break it, and it’s unlikely anyone would want to try. 

“I will not be doing 70, 80, 90 or 100,” the Bayview woman said. “This is my limit. My body is saying, ‘We’re done.’” 

The 72-year-old rode Panic Plunge 60 times in about five hours on a sunny Saturday, beating her best of 50 times in 2023, which smashed her mark of 40 times in 2021. 

And she managed the feat with just one bathroom break. 

“It was a perfect day,” Richardson said. 

Panic Plunge takes 12 riders about 140 feet up before dropping rapidly at a speed of nearly 50 mph, suddenly stopping with about 20 feet to spare. 

It’s long been a favorite of Richardson, who has worked at Silverwood for more than 10 seasons.

After each ride, a minute or so, Richardson got off like everyone else, then returned to the line. Sometimes, she got right back on. Others, she had to wait. 

As word spread of a woman’s record-breaking effort, park visitors tuned in as the Panic Plunge count climbed.  

“Are you the one?” she was asked. 

A few kids even asked for her autograph, which she happily provided. 

“Yep, that’s me,” Richardson replied. 

But despite great views from the top, she admitted taking the Plunge so many times wasn’t entirely fun and games. At 50, she was tired, had a pain in her neck and was taking deep breaths. It was then Richardson did what she does best: Dug in and refused to quit. 

“You got this,” she told herself. 

And she did. 

About 4 p.m., five hours after she started, after her 60th trip on Panic Plunge, her proverbial walk in the park was finally over. 

A few days later, Richardson was recuperating and still tired. But she proved her point of setting a goal and completing it. 

“There’s something very powerful when a goal becomes reality,” she said. “With God, all things are possible.” 

She was especially pleased that Paul Norton, Silverwood's chief operating officer, and other Nortons, as well as General Manager Juston Henry, joined her on the first plunge.

“That meant to the world to me,” she said. 

Richardson, whose self-given moniker is “Queen of Bayview," was also glad her Silverwood colleagues stopped throughout to encourage and share in her quest.

“We're like one big happy family,” she said. 

Including all the ups and downs, of course.