First year student Pat Redmond crowned himself King of Calories in the Twinkie-eating contest Thursday, September 21 in the Fireplace Lounge of the HUB. Sponsored by PACE Main Stage, the event pitted sugar scarfers against each other in a battle of the bowels for fabulous prizes, including three free tickets to Six Flags.
The contest consisted of three preliminary rounds, when the competitors had to unwrap and eat a Twinkie faster than everyone else. The ones who listened to their mom’s advice of, “Always chew your food,” were quickly eliminated. Ryan Rush stunned the large crowd by inhaling his Twinkie in the third round, quite possibly setting a world record speed on sugar highs.
The next round of the food fight forced an even faster race. This time, three Twinkies had to be unwrapped and eaten. Eight entered, but when the cream cleared, only six remained for the final round.
The crowd cheered and snapped shots of their champions with cameras and cell phones, but somewhere in the confusion, the sixth challenger disappeared. One girl called for Martha Meecham, eliminated in the previous round, to step up and fill the gap.
Amidst cries of “Martha! Martha!” she finally acquiesced, and the PACE team served up fresh glasses of water to assist in the final round, as others piled a pyramid of Twinkies – nine in total.
The rules were simple: first to finish all nine would win. Second place got a $20 gift certificate to Wal-Mart, third won a Sudoku collection, and everyone involved got a sugar buzz as a consolation prize.
With the word, “Go!” the final round began. People cheered for Rush’s unique technique, but he failed to pace himself and at one moment, looked like he might lose it.
Sophomore Seth Nason, on the other hand, did. Unable to hold down the extra Twinkies he ate in order to get to the final round, he kindly shared them with the garbage can in the back corner of the stage, effectively eliminating himself from the race.
Suddenly, Pat Redmond raised his hands in victory and the crowd erupted in cheers. Shortly afterward, Rush finished to take second.
So how does victory taste?”Sweet,” said Redmond.
Overall, the event had a very large turnout compared to most student events. PACE looks forward to their upcoming major events. Those interested in other PACE events are advised to go to pacEEvents.org, or to check out the PACE Facebook group.