A-Bomb and ...: Big City Burrito

Big City Burrito held a benefit for a local boy who is going to undergo some stem cell operations and therapy in Germany. Great turnout, lots of people, and they made lots of money for AJ and his family.

As part of the event, they held a burrito eating contest. Eat one burrito. Fastest time wins. Going in, I knew this format is not my ideal. It's all speed. And with many firemen there (they've been helping AJ for a while), well, they know how to eat fast.

There were 39 people in the contest. There were to be 8 heats of 5 eaters each. I was in the 1st heat. The burritos - roughly Chipotle or Qdoba-sized - were mainly potato, a bit of rice, and a little ground beef, and sauce. In heat 1 we had fresh (read: steamy hot) burritos. I chose to stand. Burrito in one hand. Bottle of water in the other. On go, I tore in and it was a blur of bites, swigs of water, chewing, and swallowing. It was between me and this firefighter. He ended up clearing his mouth just before I did. Him 1:36.0, me 1:41. Darn.

There were more heats. Good thing I stuck around, because after heat five I asked if I could do it again. I snagged the final spot in the final heat.

I made a few adjustments.

Heat 8. Going again. This time I would sit, not stand, and try to not hit the water as much as before. There was a few minute delay as the burritos were prepared. In that time I made a decision to go for it.

And I did. Bigger bites. Less chewing. Less water. I blew away the other eaters in the heat. That firefighter from heat #1 was still leading. Until I finished my 2nd eat in 1:32. It felt kind of weird trouncing the firefighter in that majority firefighter crowd, but it was a burrito eating contest not a burrito eating contest that a firefighter had to win.

Free burritos for a year! Well, coupons for 52 free burritos. That expire on 12/31/10. So technically I won free burritos for what's left in 2010, not for 52 weeks. Anyway, great event. Good win in a format that would not favor me.

Win #20.