How I Nearly Won the Lone Star Cheeseburger Eating Contest

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Yesterday was the 8th Annual Lone Star Cheeseburger eating contest and I decided to throw my hat in the ring to try to take home the coveted Burger Eating Championship Trophy. This contest has happened annually for most of this decade.

All the preparations of the event started at lunch time. The competitors filled their bodies with only liquids in order to keep a light stomach.

Then 6:30 p.m. rolled around and ten of Texas' finest eaters pulled up to break the previous record of nine cheeseburgers.

The competition was simple. My opponents and I were given five burgers to start with, ketchup, two gigantic cups of water, and only five minutes to eat as many burgers as we could. 

Once the competition started, I forced the first burger down within the first minute and felt I was keeping pace if not winning. 

Then the 1:30-minute mark hit and the third burger became dryer and dryer. The water came in very clutch but I did not do the traditional "dip the burger in the water" technique. 

After the halfway point I began to consider to break the only rule. DO NOT PUKE. It was tough after shoving my third quarter pound burger in my gullet but the thought of winning the $500 and the trophy kept the food down. 

Coming towards the end, I considered the thought that my stomach might actually explode and the pace of burgers going down was dwindling. 

When Ryan Newlin of ERA Newlin & Co., the official time keeper, said 30 seconds left, I grabbed as much burger as I could and shoved it in my mouth. 

Here's a video of the competition: 

Tim Condon, owner of the Lone Star Cheeseburger, came and tallied the amount of burgers and totaled mine at 5.2 burgers. 

I unfortunately did not win. Instead, a traveling food competitor — a professional in the "food sports" genre of athletes — from Austin had driven 3.5 hours here too win the competition, and the $500, by gulping down 6.85 burgers. I landed in fourth place with 5.2 burgers. 

Overall the competition was awesome, the burgers were great, and my stomach was full! 

Here's the video of the Post Game Highlights: