2010: Nathan's in Las Vegas was Energetic!

The 10-minute hot dog speed contest held this last week, May 6, right outside the NY-NY Hotel and Casino was simply exhilarating. There was excitement on-stage: how many hot dogs would the professional newcomer Ben Monson consume? Would the other guys push him to his limits? I had little doubts about Ben's win, but I was wondering how many dogs and buns I would put down.

In my mind, I was pushing to hit 15-20 hot dogs and buns. Given my track record, I knew it was ambitious. Hot dogs are a difficult food to eat quickly, since the two components really need to be eaten separately. The strategy element can be difficult to pull off when you're under the gun and the seconds are ticking by!

I managed to finish 12 hot dogs and 11 buns in the 10-minute contest. That was good enough for 4th place out of 12 total competitors, which I thought was a decent result. The three men who finished ahead of me were all signed pros at one time or another, so their ability is hard to question. I just need to kick it up a notch if I want to hang with them at speed consumption!

In all honesty, I didn't like the particular hot dogs used. Maybe it was just the cooking.... I don't know. They had a thick skin on them, were hard to rip apart and chew, and felt very greasy. I needed a lot of water to get that stuff down. I was so thirsty afterwards (think: salt overload) that I probably drank a full gallon of water. My stomach wasn't entirely full, but I was glad the contest was over.



You can't see me in the video, because I was standing at the extreme left end of the stage.

All in all, I had a great time out there - and you know I'd do it again! Let's just hope I can do it better next time out. And once again, my thanks to the crowd. It wouldn't have been the same without them.