Festival-goers walking along Clinton Street.
I left my house at about 11 a.m. to take some festival snapshots before the Dog n’ Suds Hotdog Eating Competition. I was tickled to see parade-stragglers walking along the St. Mary’s bridge on Main Street. Half an hour later I found a parking spot across from the Embassy; 15 minutes after that I was in the Verizon Event Pavilion to watch the prep for the first-ever eating competition. But not even my parking situation or the drizzling rain could dampen my spirits for the impending hotdog-eating excitement.
I made some friends as I stood table-side waiting for the eat-off to begin. Josh Cranfill of Dog n’ Suds told me 20 trays of 15 hotdogs and three large cups of water awaited competitors. As festival volunteers unwrapped the foil from the trays, my jaw dropped at the sight of 300 hotdogs lined up on the table. Whoever can sit in front of that many tube steaks with the intention of eating large quantities of them in five minutes and not get sick is already a winner in my book.
James Shook (left) and Danny Lothamer wolf down tube steaks among other competitors.
Enter James Shook of Huntertown, a man who sat quietly at the end of a row of 14 other competitors before eating was to begin. He said he’s always enjoyed eating and didn’t have any set strategy for the task at hand. But he must be doing something right: He took second-place honors at a preliminary round by downing five hotdogs in three minutes. His wife cross-stitched “To Eat Is Human. To Pig Out Is Divine.” on his shirt a few years back, so I should have taken that as a harbinger of how well he’d do in the five-minute challenge.
After all the names were called and the stopwatch was set, the crowd cheered for their favorite eaters. Sweat dripped as some competitors stood up to eat in the intense humidity. Other more stoic eaters chose to sit down as they binged. Whatever the strategy, I never thought five minutes of rapid-fire eating could be so intense. When the top prize is $500, I’d be stuffing my face too.
Scott Howard of Summit City Radio (left) and TRF Executive Director Shannon White tally the results.
Once the five minutes were up, the table was about 150 hot dogs lighter. The eaters, who stood wiping their brows after stuffing their faces, were faring quite the opposite. After a round of cheers and applause for all competitors, the crowd simmered down to murmurs as festival volunteers walked around with a clipboard to determine a winner. The results were as follows:
First-place winner Danny Lothamer holds his $500 check.
So how are the winners planning on spending their eating earnings?
Shook said his prize is going toward more food at the Official Giant Midway later today. Lothamer plans are geared more for the long-term: he said he’ll use his reward to pay off some credit or perhaps buy his daughter-who sat proudly on the sidelines in a stroller-some makeup.
For a complete list of winners and another perspective on today’s competition, click here.
Post and photos by Amanda Junk for The News-Sentinel.
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