The great marshmallow war against author Brandon Mull

LEHI — "Three … two … one … Go!" When these words were shouted by a man with a megaphone, marshmallows filled the air, more than 2,000 pounds of them. The targets were author Brandon Mull, his daughter, Sadie, and the cast of a video that promoted his latest book. They navigated an obstacle course while being pelted endlessly with the cold, white sweets that were not as soft as you would think.

One of the runners being attacked by hundreds of kids throwing at her was Tessa Wooley. She described the experience by laughingly saying, "It was fun, but it hurt."

Grayson Hardman was also one of the video trailer stars that was lucky enough to get to run through the obstacle course. He was thrilled and described it as "ultra-awesomeness."

Richie, 10, was one of the many children tossing the marshmallows at them.

"It was exciting and fun. I enjoyed it a lot," said Richie enthusiastically.

The course they ran though consisted of poles that looked like lollipops, three sets of two tires each and stacked up hay bales to climb over.

Shortly after they ran the course, the crowd of kids came onto the course and started throwing marshmallows at each other. It was crazy and fun.

The event was part of the book launch for Brandon Mull's "The Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe." He is the well-known author of The Fablehaven and Beyonders series. He was a very popular figure at this event among the kids, as many wanted autographs and pictures with him.

It all happened last Friday, Oct. 26, at the Thanksgiving Point gardens in Lehi and was part of Read Today. A new world record was set for the largest marshmallow fight ever. The record was previously set by Eisenhower Junior High in Taylorsville last December, breaking the record set just a few months before that in Ocean Beach, Calif. Everybody was going crazy two days ago at this marshmallow war. There were booths all over handing out everything from cotton candy to T-shirts, several games with prizes, and a crowded book-signing hour with Brandon Mull.

"This is the wackiest book launch I've ever had," Mull said. "I mean, throwing over 2,000 pounds of marshmallows at me! This war is the biggest ever. It is so fun."

Kate De Groote is in sixth grade and writes for Connect 123, for the Deseret News' Newspaper in Education program.