Guts of Steel: A glimpse into competitive eating’s soul

From fried asparagus to towers of steak, platefuls of cupcakes and troughs of hot dogs, all over the world on any given weekend there's probably someone somewhere shoving food into his/her face for sport and at least a small crowd of people transfixed and cheering them on.

Competitive eating is more than Fourth of July novelty these days. And co-president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating and Major League Eating's George Shea sees the sport holding its own next to baseball and football in the near future.

"We're taking over hockey," Shea said. "It is my prediction that we become a more powerful franchise than the NHL this year. The big three by the end of this year will be football, baseball and competitive eating."

Shea and his brother Richard got into competitive eating in the late '80s with Nathan's Famous Corporation while working as public relations representatives. The brothers took over the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 1991 and, six years later, established the IFOCE and MLE. Since then, the Shea brothers have watched the sport grow into a regulated event all over the world – most prominently in America, but also Japan and Europe.

Although Miami, NYC and many a city in Texas are notable competitive grub hubs, Shea said Tempe has hosted one of the most powerful and exciting Nathan's Famous Regional Qualifiers for more than a decade. It was at Arizona Mills Mall where celebrity eater Joey Chestnut first broke the 60 hot-dog and bun mark, sending the host flat to the floor. And Tempe was also the only location that fielded an astrophysicist, who declined Shea's offer to get involved with MLE.

IFOCE and MLE conduct about 85 events a year, each with 15 participants in it, Shea said. This means that serious eaters can make bank like Chestnut, who made $220,000 in 2010.

The statistics alone are a balance of impressive and revolting: Don Lerman ate six pounds of baked beans in under two minutes. Charles Hardy holds the record for cabbage-eating at six pounds and nine ounces in nine minutes. And the petite Sonya Thomas ate 65 hard-boiled eggs in six minutes and 40 seconds.

"There are many, many, many people who think they can eat three or four hard-boiled eggs or five slices of pizza and then they see Joey Chestnut eat 44 slices of pizza and there is a direct understanding of that accomplishment than there is in some other sports ... they're like middle-class sports celebrities."

There are many people who see themselves as "big eaters." Even Shea identifies with this term, and because eating is an every-person sport, there are two tiers of competition: major franchise and local daredevil-style.

One such daredevil is Tucson's 27-year-old Michelle Lesco.

Lesco's first superhuman stomach debut was at Lindy's Diner on 4th, a burger joint in Tucson, where she initially went as a spectator to cheer on her friend as he tackled a three-pound burger challenge. When he chickened out, he left the extremely competitive, 115-pound Lesco with no other option but to step in and devour the challenge in his face.

Lesco, a student and waitress, is a word-of-mouth eater who rises to any eating challenge that comes her way and also to appease her inner extremist, who digs on things like the Chandler Spartan Race – an eight-mile obstacle course that included tasks like jumping over fire, climbing walls and swimming through a river. But, really, she said, she just hates losing to food.

"It's more of a mind over matter type of situation once I get there, so I don't want to lose to food," Lesco said.

National events like the Nathan's Hot Dog challenge can draw hundreds, if not thousands, of audience members and viewers, a phenomenon that Lesco noticed when her modest 3-year-old blog blew up with a 11,000 views the first day she posted the tale of her vanquishing a Lobby's burger challenge.

"It was really weird to me that people would be interested at all, so it kind of made me feel a little like a freak show, but it's funny, so I roll with it," Lesco said.

Shea finds there is an unmatched connection between audience and performer in competitive eating, though.

"I would suggest that the sport we conduct is more powerful even than professional football because there is an ability to see the triumph of the human spirit and the challenges facing the human condition when one is at a competitive eating table," Shea said.

As for compelling the performer, Lesco said she's developed a few strategies for eating, like her mantra, "chew, swallow, chew, swallow, chew, swallow," and trying to knock out challenges before the 20-minute mark, when one's body feels "stuffed." Still, even when her body puts up a fight, Lesco said she eats wedges of lemon to get her saliva glands going in scenarios like the hour she spent eating a (very delicious) five-pound burrito.

"There's a certain level of dedication I don't think I'll ever reach," Lesco said. "Waking up in the morning and training for professional eating is what, I think, a lot of [competitive eaters] have to do. And I'd rather go ‘Ooh, that looks delicious, I'm going to eat that right now.'"