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MASON — He came. He saw. He walked.

Rick Wallenda, a decendent of the "Flying Wallendas" clan, broke his late grandfather's 34-year-old distance record for tight rope walking Friday, July 4, at Kings Island by walking 2,000 feet on a five-eighths-inch cable suspended 112 feet above ground.

"I think he'd be very proud," said the 53-year-old daredevil said of his grandfather. "Who else would he rather lose his record to?"

All eyes were up to the sky as Wallenda walked along the wire stretched from the Eiffel Tower to a flag pole at the front gate, crossing over the Royal Fountain as it shot 10,000 gallons of water into the air. No safety nets or harnesses were in place, because "that's the only way a Wallenda will perform."

Stopping only briefly to turn around on the flag pole, Wallenda needed only 35 minutes to complete the walk and set a North American distance record for tight rope walking.

"To keep adrenline up for that long is tough," Wallenda said. "Concentration is unbelievable."

His grandfather, Karl Wallenda set a world distance record in 1974 when he completed a 1,800-foot skywalk at Kings Island. At age 73, the elder Wallenda plummeted to his death in March 1978 during a promotional walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A recount of the event on wallenda.com blames several faulty ropes along the wire for the fatal fall.

During his Independence Day walk, Rick Wallenda used a 38-pound pole to help keep his balance.

"My arms are completely exhausted," he said after his record-breaking walk; and said the weather made the feat more challenging, as rain sprinkled on him during both walks and postponed the event by several hours.

As a warmup, Wallenda walked the 1,000 feet from the flag pole to the Eiffel Tower just two hours earlier, his personal best up to that point.

"Don't miss it! I'm gonna break the record!" Wallenda shouted his prediction to the crowd right after he finished.

"The wire was wet ... And, yeah, I'm worried about the shorter break in between the two walks, but I'm going to go back out there and do it!" he said while signing T-shirts and hats.