In August of 2019, 35-year-old Jared Ream set out to shed enough weight to
ride the new Orion coaster at Ohio's Kings Island amusement park. At the
time, he weighed 430 pounds. He used to be too overweight to ride, but he
shed 200 pounds and is now able to pursue his love of roller coasters.
The path taken by roller coaster aficionado Jason Ream to ride his 300th
ride was an adventure in and of itself. The 35-year-old resident of Dayton,
Ohio, recently wrote a first-person article for Dayton.com in which he
described how he was inspired to shed nearly half of his body weight in
order to ride a new roller coaster that would be opening at Kings Island,
his hometown amusement park in Mason, Ohio.
"The "Walk of Shame" roller coaster is the worst, as any large or tall
roller coaster lover will attest. The moment the restraint is unable to
fully close around you due to your size is when you are requested to exit a
roller coaster. I can only imagine how awful it is," he remarked.
Ream has a "intense passion" for roller coaster riding, but his stature has
frequently gotten in the way. "I weighed around 430 pounds at my biggest. I
had very much given up on ever riding a coaster again by then." He went on,
"Yet I knew it was time for a change when Kings Island revealed its plans
for Orion."
Ream claims that he has always been a large man; at his heaviest, he
weighed more than 400 pounds and was 6'9" tall. Ream, who calls himself “an
encyclopedia of theme parks and coaster knowledge,” gained weight because he
stopped riding coasters after starting a desk-bound job.
Ream stated, "I knew there was no way that I could fit into coasters
anymore when my weight was over 300."
"My sense of worth declined. My cholesterol and blood pressure skyrocketed.
Weighing myself got too dismal, so I stopped. I realized there was no use in
going to parks, so I stopped going. I haven't experienced the majority of
the very great roller coasters that have been created in the previous ten
years.
It was then that the card-carrying member of The American Coaster
Enthusiasts, or ACE, had to give up on his aim of riding 300 coasters. But
all changed in August of last year when he found out that the theme park he
grew up going to, Kings Island, was going to get a new ride called Orion.
B&M, Ream's favorite coaster manufacturer, designed the 300-foot-tall
Giga-coaster.
"I had always vowed to myself that I would have to ride the B&M Giga if
Kings Island ever constructed one, no matter how long it took... The day
after the announcement, I made the decision to shed all of my weight and
ride it on opening day.
Which he did! He bought a scale and found out his weight on the day of the
announcement: 430 pounds. Over the course of 321 days, Ream shed 190 pounds
by working out in his garage, cutting back on his meals, fasting sometimes,
and obtaining eight to ten hours of sleep each day. He weighed 240 pounds
when he arrived for the Orion media event on July 1, the day before the park
opened (the park was initially scheduled to open on April 11, but the
coronavirus caused a delay).
Ream remembers, "I just kept thinking about how lucky I was to be there as
we slowly walked toward the back of the park." "It was worth it not only for
my health but also for me to be able to experience my passion again,
something I had not been able to do for a long time."
Ream lined up for Orion and realized his ambition of riding his 300th
roller coaster after securing himself into a test seat to make sure he was
the proper size. Ream writes, "I had the biggest smile on my face, but you
couldn't see it because of my mask."
"I forgot to take in the scenery and look around because I was so happy and
excited." We had already reached the summit and were starting our incredible
descent. The seconds ticked past. As I was the only one in my socially
isolated row, I simply let my arms and legs roam wherever the coaster
directed them.
He took another trip on Orion after his previous one ended. once more.
Afterwards, try out a new area of the coaster each time you go around.
Though he acknowledges that some may not comprehend it, Ream is aware that
Orion provided him with the necessary inspiration to make a complete
turnaround in his life. "The concept of this coaster alone motivated me to
make a life change. I put forth a lot of effort simply to be able to ride
this enormous machine," he wrote. "I genuinely feel that everything was
worthwhile, and I know I will be able to experience it repeatedly for the
rest of my life."
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