At noon on the beautiful Saturday of Spring Fling weekend, over 200 onlookers, including the PSU President Sara Jayne Steen, gathered to witness the first annual Spring Fling hot dog eating competition, organized by Bad Dawgs. The 19 contestants faced off to see who could eat the most hot dogs, minus the toppings, in 12 minutes.
The event was broken into a men’s and women’s categories. The men’s category included one contestant under the age of 12 and seven over the age of 18. The women’s category consisted of 11 contestants, all in the over 18 category. The highly anticipated event had an entry fee of ten dollars per contestant, with proceeds going toward the Main Street Inc. Beautification Project. Other contributors included Coca Cola, True Colors Print and Design and WPCR Plymouth State Radio, broadcasters of the event.
320 hot dogs were provided by Bad Dawgs for the competition, roughly 40 pounds of food. Jared Rennie took the win for the men over 18, consuming a whopping 12.5 dogs, while Maria Crawford showed the other girls how to eat with a dominant 11.5 hot dog count. Under no pressure, but certainly eating his heart out, was Mark Rogalus who housed the four hot dogs to win the 12 and under men’s category. Contestants averaged around eight hot dogs each, which is roughly equal to one pound.
Overall, the competition was a great success. “People seemed to be really excited about it when they were signing up. I can see this happening every year, easily,” said Andrew Pendergast, manager of Bad Dawgs, “I bet more people will sign up next year.”