Just Two For Me, Please

For the fifth straight year, Takeru Kobayashi has won the hot dog eating title.  The 27 year old from Nagano, Japan won the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest held July 4 by wolfing down a nauseating 49 hot dogs (with buns) in 12 minutes.  He missed his own world record of 53 1/2 hot dogs, set at last year's competition.  The runner-up was Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, VA.  She set an American record by eating 37 hot dogs in the allotted 12 minutes.

Sonya is known as "The Black Widow" on the competitive eating circuit.  Her technique for the hot dog eating contest is to eat the hot dog and then the bun.  Sonya dips the bun in water to make it easier to swallow with less chewing.  Sonya says she practices, and is working on getting her speed up.  She said that after finishing her 37 hot dogs, her stomach was fine, but that her jaw was tired.  No doubt about that.  

I did some research on Sonya, and found a list of her top ten favorite contests:

1.  Acme Oysters: 46 dozen (552) in 10 minutes.
2.  Hard-Boiled Eggs: 65 in 6' 40 seconds.
3.  Downtown Atlantic Cheesecake: 11 pounds in 9 minutes.
4.  Buffalo Wings: 162 (5.09 pounds) in 12 minutes.
5.  84 Lumber Baked Beans: 8.4 pounds in 2' 47 seconds.
6.  Zocalo's Tacos (Soft-shell Chickem): 48 in 11 minutes.
7.  Cheese Quaesadillas: 31 1/2 (four-inch size) in 5 minutes.
8.  Soft-shell Maine Lobster: 38 (9.76 pounds) in 12 minutes.
9.  Lulu's Crawfish Jambalaya: 9 pounds in 10 minutes.
10. Chicken Nuggets: 80 in 5 minutes.

I'm very impressed with these two kids.  They're just average sized twenty-somethings.  Takeru is 5' 7" and weighs just 144 pounds, and Sonya tips the scales at just 105 pounds.  Yet these two are speed eating stars.  You'd think they'd be as big as the side of a house in order to put away 86 hot dogs between the two of thm in just 12 minutes.  The most hot dogs I've ever eaten in one setting is three.  And that was spread out over probably 45 minutes.  I think I'm going to have to check into this competitive eating thing and see if they have a peel-and-eat shrimp contest.  I think that would be one contest I could probably win.  But they would have to already bepeeled and deveined.  Just make sure there's a big bowl of spicey cocktail sauce and some lemon juice and turn me loose.  Oh, and I'll need a nice refreshing beverage to wash them down.