Chow Down!

I have won a hot dog contest by 1/2 but I had not lost a hot dog eating contest by 1/2 until the 3rd Chow Down for Charity.

The Chow Down for Charity hot dog eating contest finals took place at Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs in Denver. A big shout out to my posse there to cheer me on. And they did cheer very loudly. Thanks to them I finally broke through at a Steve’s final and was 2nd. Behind Jimmy Mares. By ½ hot dog and bun. Ahead of Toothless by 1 hot dog and bun.




There were 8 eaters who had previously qualified to eat in the finals. The contest was 8 minutes long, and the hot dogs had to be eaten together. No dunking, thankfully, and no separating the dog from the bun. The gathered crowd counted down, and it was on. Jimmy, Mark, and I were more or less even throughout the contest. I think I was hitting the water too much. I know I chipmunked too much throughout. At the end I had just enough room to get the rest of dog #10 in my mouth and, with Mark on my right side, cram a bit of #11 in too so I was able to secure 2nd. I did not realize I was as close as I was to Jimmy’s 11. Had I known that then maybe I could have done something.


But my 10.5 is good, even though losing by ½ feels pretty shitty. In the 2008 finals, I did 8. In the 2009 finals, 9 was my number. In 2010, 10.5! So while Jimmy decreased 15% from his 2009 total, and Mark decreased 13% from 2009, I went up by 16%.

Some other links:

Westword #1

Steve's Snappin' Dogs

Westword #2