KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City is known for it’s barbecue.
Now, a food eating competition is geared to see if we have the best and fastest barbecue eaters in the country.
Ten men from all over the metro and one man from Connecticut competed to see who can scoff down the most burnt ends in 10 minutes.
At the one minute, Mark Jamie “the Bear” McDonald downed his first two-pound plate of burnt ends. At three minutes, he polished off four pounds using his “one hand and stand” technique.
“I like to stand because it keeps the flow of the food better,” the Connecticut native said.
Randy Santel from Overland Park considers himself a professional eater who has won 115 eating competitions in 14 states.
“Yesterday in Bonner Springs, i did the challenge for ‘Man vs Food’ Kansas City,” Santel said. “I did a six-and-a-half pound barbecue sandwich challenge.”
There’s nothing neat about eating competitions but most have some sort of strategy.
“For a big challenge, I’ll do like 10 pounds of watermelon just because it goes right through your body and it expands your stomach so you are able to eat a lot,” Santel said.
Toby “Low Down” Teeters from Shawnee says he doesn’t really have a strategy. He says he does it because he has a weight problem: he just can’t wait to eat.
“You won 50 bucks. What will you do with the cash?” Teeters asked. “I’ll probably buy more food later.”
Teeters says he doesn’t let any food go to waste. He just puts it on his waist.
“People say I’m out of shape, but the last I checked round is a shape,” Teeters laughed.
In the end, McDonald, who hails from Connecticut, showed these Kansas Citians how to down barbecue by eating eight-and-a-half pounds of burnt ends in 10 minutes.
