The Decathlon (+1)

I alluded to my eating decathlon in my post the other day, so now it is time to describe the entire event. My roommates and I sat down one night and brainstormed the idea for a while before we came up with 11 foods we found agreeable. So here are the events, in order with the results of the two events we've done so far.

1) 2 lbs. of salad race: just what it sounds like, whoever can eat all that salad first gets 3 points, 2nd place gets 2 points, and 3rd place gets 1 point. Bonus point for every pound of salad eaten. I won this event with a time of just under 24 minutes. Drew was next about 45 minutes later, and Ryan was 3rd a few minutes after that.

2) Who can eat 20 saltine crackers the fastest without water. Same scoring as every race, with a bonus for getting done in under 5:00. This one was difficult because it became hard to swallow. Ryan and I actually tied in 3:52, with Drew a distant third. Standing after two events: Andrew 8, Ryan 6, Drew 5.

3) 12 inch pizza challenge. Who can eat a 12 inch pizza fastest. Another event I talked about in the last post. Bonus points for getting in under Ryan's best time of 4:30.

4) Chinese food order. We have several Chinese restaurants that give substantial amounts of food for a cheap price. We are going to race to eat a full order, including the food, fried rice, eggroll and fortune cookie. The agreed upon order is General Tso's chicken.

5) Pasta: we haven't decided an amount but we will race to see who can eat a set amount of pasta first.

6) Krispy Kreme Race: This event is the one we're all looking forward to the most. It is also the only event where we are allowing outside competitors. The competition includes a 2 mile run to Krispy Kreme, the rapid consumption of 6 glazed donuts, and then a 2 mile run back. We already have 9 competitors signed up for this one so the competition could get heated. General scoring system, with bonuses for finishing without purgin your donuts on the run back.

7) 10 tacos from Taco Bell: Another race to see who can eat an entire 10-item order from Taco Bell. No bonuses associated with this one yet, but it will likely be very interesting.

8) Traditional pie-eating contest: No hands. Need I say more.

9) Block of cheese: Another race to see who can eat an entire block of cheese. No water allowed for this one. Bonus points for not getting sick.

10) 1 full bag of Baked Lays. This is one of the weaker events on the list, but it should make for some interesting racing, especially if we don't allow water.

11) Dog Biscuits: This is one of those things reminiscent of Survivor or something because we plan to find unpleasant-tasting treats and see who can eat 10 the fastest. Obvious points for not getting sick. I'm not a fan of this one.

So as you see, we have a full slate of events in the coming weeks, and I will keep the blog updated on the ongoing results of this fantastic competition. And I encourage everyone to look closely at this competition and consider doing something similar.

Our Girlfriends Think We're Crazy

Well, it's been far too long since my last post. So here we are again, and I'm back to my favorite topic: Food. This time is going to be more reminiscent of my logs leading up to the famous trip to Denny's Beer Barrel Pub. The eating challenges have begun once again.

Now personally, I never really gave up on them. But they got put on the back burner for most of the group. However, we occasionally email each other links to interesting eating challenges. This is how this new wave began. My cousin John found that the world record for eating a 12 inch pizza was 2 minutes and 19 seconds. So of course, being the group that we are, we decided to test this record. I started out the festivities last Wednesday by eating a Tombstone pizza in just under 8 minutes (extremely weak when looking at the rest of the results). But it turns out the Tombstone was a difficult pizza to eat. On Friday, most of the Denny's group plus one or two others convened in St. Louis to challenge my time and, more importantly, the world record.

The big winner was El Nino, who finished his Imo's pizza in I believe about 3 1/2 minutes. John was next in about 4 1/2, and the rest of the group followed shortly, with all but one beating my mediocre time. Well, that lit a fire under me and I intend to challenge this again, most likely on my next trip to St. Louis when I can go to Imo's myself.

So I could end this post here and have a solid story, but I'm going to make it a bit longer and tell you how this pizza challenge has changed my life. My two roommates, Ryan and Drew, we amused by my attempt and decided to test their own bodies. Ryan completed the challenge in about 4 1/2 minutes. The next night, he attempted the ill-advised gallon challenge, to the much expected result of some very forceful vomiting. The next night all three of us attempted to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. And once again, Ryan vomited. Drew and I fared a bit better, meaning we kept our dinners inside. But no one succeeded. Well, this led us to develop a new set of competitions related to eating. We call it the House 6883 Eating Decathlon (+1). We have 11 events, and a point system to crown a grand champion of eating. In a day or two I will describe every event in the decathlon, but today I will give a brief rundown of event #1: The 2 lbs of salad race.

The race is just what it sounds like. The first person to successfully eat 2 lbs. of salad is the winner. 1st place gets 3 points, 2nd gets 2, and 3rd gets 1. For every pound of salad you eat you also get 1 point. So there is a potential for 5 points in this event. We began at about 10:30 last night, with our salads poured into large bowls and dressing and drinks of choice at our sides. Ryan and Drew used Italian Dressing, with Ryan drinking Woodchuck, and Drew with water. I had Raspberry Vinaigrette and Root Beer/water to drink. Well, I ended up the big winner in this event, finishing my 2 lbs of salad in just under 24 minutes. I had a huge lead so I really let up the last 10 minutes and probably could have gone under 20 if not for that. 2nd place, nearly 45 minutes later, was Drew. And coming in 3rd, and almost vomiting for the third night in a row (but somehow holding it in) was Ryan. So the standings sit with me in first place so far with 5 points, Drew in 2nd with 4 points, and Ryan in 3rd with 3 points. The competition will heat up in the coming days, so stay tuned.