Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Regional Competition!

Aaron and I had seriously been contemplating heading to New York this summer for the 94th annual National Hot Dog Eating Competition. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the six-time champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi and defending champion Joey Chestnut, who tied last year with 59 hot dogs eaten in ten minutes. We figured it would be a great way to end our Summer of hot dogs. Lucky for us we got to save some money on airfare because one of the regional competitions took place right here in our own town. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend. So Saturday we headed to Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Regional Competition!

They held numerous competitions. The first few competitions were just for fun. They consisted of a few random audience members. The highest number of hot dogs eaten in ten minutes, by the average joe, without having any practice was 7 1/2! Which is decent seeing how I eat two in twenty minutes and feel nauseous.

For the final competition, for the real competition, for the competition that could win you a spot to the final in New York City, the number of hot dogs consumed was much higher! It was a tough race. The two top competitors were Pretty Boy Pete and Mongo Marquez. They seemed to have their technique down. Each were dipping their hot dogs in an unknown red substance, believed to be Gatorade, before devouring the dog sometimes whole. Pretty Boy Pete came in a close second with a total of 29 hot dogs eaten in ten minutes. It wasn't quite enough because Mongo Marquez won it with a whopping 30 hot dogs!

Now I know you all wish that you were there so I made sure to tape it for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Check out the awards ceremony! Mongo is the first Coloradan to ever make it to the finals!

This guy wins the award for coolest hat of the day!

Here is the aftermath. Can you believe that they were giving away the left over hot dogs! We chose to pass.