The colorful stars of competitive eating converge on South Portland Saturday for a world burrito-eating bout that pits the reigning lobster-eating queen against a Mexican food title holder who devoured 71 tamales in 12 minutes.
Sonya Thomas of Virginia – who is known in the world of competitive eating as the Black Widow – returns to Maine for the Costa Vida World Burrito Eating Championship after setting the 2005 lobster-eating record in Kennebunk, where she polished off 44 in 12 minutes.
Her competitors include Tim “Eater X” Janus of New York, fresh from a Sept. 1 tamale-eating victory in Texas; and Chip “Burger” Simpson of Alabama, Tim “Gravy” Brown of Chicago and Jason “Crazy Legs” Conti of New York.
Spectators at Saturday’s 12-minute tournament – which takes place in Costa Vida’s parking lot on Western Avenue – will get a firsthand look at the zany world of competitive eating that has become a mainstream sport, complete with ESPN broadcasts and cash prizes.
Major League Eating, which organizes the competitions, has redefined the meaning of fast food by sponsoring dozens of timed tourneys worldwide. Professional eaters, known as “gurgitators,” scarf down as much food as they can in eating sprints that typically last less than 15 minutes.
Records have been set or shattered for such familiar foods as boiled eggs, baked beans, oysters, doughnuts, pulled pork, Vienna sausages, hamburgers and pizzas.
Competitions are nothing like old-fashioned pie-eating contests at the county fair. The organized pig-outs have become theatrical athletic events, similar to TV wrestling, except the opponent is a hot dog or plate of chicken wings.
Professional eaters like the Black Widow and Eater X are minor celebrities simply for the fact they can eat a lot of food fast.
In South Portland, the burrito chomp starts at 2 p.m. The public is encouraged to arrive early to grab some lunch and get a good seat to watch.
Many Major League Eating frenzies are televised nationally. But Saturday’s competition is strictly a live event, with no TV broadcasts planned.
Eric “Badlands” Booker holds the only other speed-eating record for burritos, but will not defend his title this weekend. Booker dispatched 15 burritos in 8 minutes, but has since retired.
The burritos at Saturday’s competition have three times the heft of the 6-ounce Mexican wraps that Booker ate for his world title.
Speed eaters will bite down on the Big Kahuna burrito – 18 ounces of rice, beans, cheese and sweet pork wrapped in a flour tortilla. One of these babies is not easy to polish off, let alone a dozen.
Rules, sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eaters, allow speed eaters to shovel the entire stuffed tortilla into their mouths or break it into pieces. They also can dunk the food into water to make it go down easier, but Richard Shea, who organized the competition for Major League Eating, says he suspects there will be no dipping at Saturday’s sprint.
“The burritos would fall apart,” he said.
Janus – known as Eater X for wearing face paint to competitions – said in a phone interview that he will not train for the burrito-eating bout.
Being a competitive speed eater requires extreme perseverance, rather than a big appetite, he said. Janus, who weighs a trim 165 pounds, says he exercises regularly and has a healthy diet.
“You need to have certain level of mania to push yourself beyond the limits,” said Janus, a former pizza maker, day trader and dog walker. “You have to force yourself not to wimp out when it feels bad or gross.”
His biggest competitor is likely to be Sonya Thomas, known as the Black Widow for her ability to frustrate male opponents twice her size.
A small woman at 100 pounds, Thomas holds several world titles. In addition to her lobster win, she has set records for consuming the most Vienna sausages (8 pounds in 10 minutes), baked beans (8 pounds in 2 minutes) and chili cheese fries (8 pounds in 10 minutes).
But Janus is no slouch either when it comes to professional pig-outs. In addition to setting a new tamale-eating record in 2007, Janus captured the tiramisu title, ingesting 4 pounds of the sweet Italian cake in 6 minutes.
He has shown prowess in the Italian dessert category, also winning the 2006 cannoli title. He dispatched 25 of the ricotta cheese-filled pastries in 6 minutes.
Janus said he probably will slurp lemonade in between mouthfuls of burritos to clear his palate at Saturday’s competition. It gets rid of any lingering bad taste.
“You get grossed out by eating the same food over again,” said Janus. “Every bite tastes fresher if you can counteract it. You don’t get tired of the flavor.”
Janus also said he’s looking forward to visiting Maine for Saturday’s competition, adding that lobster is one of his favorite foods.
“I may try some if I’m hungry,” he said.
This 18 ounce burrito will be the challange awaiting professional eaters at Costa Vida on Saturday.
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