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To win in competitive eating, have a strategy

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

CHATHAM — I like hot dogs. I like them a lot. But there is a limit to everything. Thursday at the Columbia County Fair in Chatham I ate six and a half hot dogs in three minutes to win the 21-and-over age bracket of the annual hot dog eating contest.

I have a trophy to prove it.

The contest was sponsored by Ginsberg's, a commercial food supplier, Columbia Memorial Hospital and Kinderhook Bank.

It included three different age groups, 12 and younger, 13 to 20 and 21 and older.

The rules were simple — eat as many hot dogs as you possibly can in a set amount of time. The youngest age group had two minutes, while the rest of us had a full three minutes to stuff dogs down.

It was a long three minutes.

Vicki Simons, Ghent Town Justice David Harrison Sr., and several Legionaries helped out on stage. They handed out hot dogs and kept count of how many were being eaten. The hot dogs were provided by the Chatham Post 42 American Legion.

Steve Berninger, was the master of ceremonies for the competition.

In the first contest Andrew Hubner, 10, from Freehold, came in first with three dogs downed. Before the competition he said he wasn’t sure how many hot dogs he could eat. Others in his age group were more certain. “I can eat 50 hot dogs,” boasted Jordan Alexander, 8, from Wynantskill. He exaggerated slightly.

The No. 2 spot went to Joseph Oliveri, an 8-year-old from Hillsdale. He ate two dogs.

In the second class Patrick Kervin of Ghent came out on top with six-and-a-half dogs. This isn’t the first time he’s done well here. He came in second last year and first place the two previous years.

Second place in the teen division went to Charles Hartman, 19, of Earlton, who ate six.

Then it was my turn. Seven of us got up on stage and took our places. Peter Nykorchik of Pittsfield, Mass., third place winner last year, was back again this year.

Thomas Hubner, from Freehold, who sat next to me, said he came for the meal more than the competition. “I’m planning on having a leisurely lunch,” he said. “I always tell my kids to enter. It’s a free meal.”

Just before the competition began we were allowed to open our bottle of water, but couldn’t take a sip.

The crowd counted down from 10 and it was on. Halfway through my first dog I realized I wasn’t going to get many down without a strategy. So I poured water on the buns, creating a soggy mess that wasn’t tasty, but was easy to eat. The technique was borrowed from the former world champion and six-time winner at Coney Island, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan.

Kobayashi and defending champion Joey Chestnut, of San Jose, Calif., participated in the 93rd annual hot dog eating contest held on July Fourth of this year at Coney Island in Brooklyn. They were tied with 59 dogs eaten in 10 minutes. Chestnut won in a five-dog eat-off.

According to the International Federation of Competitive Eaters Web site, competitive eating has been around a long time and is an American tradition associated with fairs.

Back in the early days of the 20th century, competitive eaters were well-known and men such as Charles Sylvester Carter, famous for devouring pancakes, and Stan Libnitz, hot dog eating champ, were practically household names.

The next event Thursday was watermelon eating. I refrained from entering.

Once again the rules were fairly simple. “You have to eat all the pink and red parts of the watermelon, when you get to the white part you can ask for more,” explained Berninger. The melons were from Price Chopper and were seedless.

This event also had three age divisions, eight and younger, nine to 11 and 12 and older.

In the youth division, which had 10 competitors, 8-year-old Lilly Dempsey from Niverville won with four slices swallowed.

Stella Feder, a 7-year-old from New York City, came in second.

In the next age bracket Dominic Shelow, 11, from Chatham, came out the winner with seven-and-a-half pieces eaten. The second place winner was Iona Green, 10, also from Chatham.

In the final age group the winners were Diane Farace from Catskill with 19 melon wedges eaten for first place. Jean Marie Accardi, also from Catskill, and Hartman (the second place hot dog-eater mentioned above) tied for second place.

I enjoyed my moment of competitive eating glory, but I’m not planning on quitting my day job. I would have had to choke down around three times as many dogs in three minutes to equal Chestnut’s current world record.

To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com

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