Queen of Spikes

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I've lived in the Davis Square area for over four years and just last night visited Spike's Hot Dogs for the first time. Have any of you seen the polaroids on the wall of all the people who were able to eat 6 or more hot dogs? There's a hall of fame gallery for the top dogs (my lousy pun, not theirs) and the highest hot dog consumption total was 17, eaten in 90 minutes, by a woman. And from I can tell from the photograph, she seems rather small in stature. Does anyone know who this person is? Is this a joke?

My friend Jon fell instantly in love, so if anyone knows her marital/dating status, please pass that info along too.

Really seems hard to believe...

Comments

[inahandbasket]

I've heard she's married, and that her husband ate 16, beating her old record of 14. So she showed him up and ate 17.
This comes from the manager dude at Spike's.

Sorry Jon!

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

She is married. I watched her reclaim her record (someone had temporarily beaten her and I happened to be there the night she decided to outdo that chap) to eat the 17. Her husband was helpful at fetching the hot dogs :)

Edited to add: She is small (around my height, 5'2" and on the thin side) but her hot-dog eating capacity is huuuuuge.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

One of the world's champion eating-contest winners, Sonya Thomas, is a tiny, slender woman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Thomas).

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

And 17 hot dogs would be an appetizer for her! She's famous for eating 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

were they spike's dogs though?

spike's hot dogs are bigger than your average store bought thing, PLUS you have to eat the rolls they serve them on, and each is seriously like a small loaf of french bread. that's what stops me from eating more than 2, even on an empty stomach.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Nathan's Famous, which are big hot dogs. But the rolls are definitely smaller than Spike's.

Still, 37 Nathan's in 12 minutes would indicate that 17 Spike's in 90 minutes would be a walk in the park.

Serious competitive eaters are scary.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

oh awesome. i didn't actually check her out before. nathan's are delicious but...yeah, could not eat that many of those either lol.

i've watched a couple specials on competitive eating and yeah, i just wonder how they do it.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

with the hot dog eating, the key is water. they wet the buns so it's easier to get them down more quickly.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

But she's right; spike's buns are really baguettes, not competition hot dog buns. Wetting them just won't help.

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

Have you ever watched the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest (http://www.nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/getpage.php?pgid=38)? They hold it every 4th of July and broadcast it on ESPN. You have to eat the hot dogs and buns. She could crush the Spike's record, and she doesn't even come close to winning the Nathan's contest.

Here is a list of the things that she is the current champion or has the world record for (http://www.sonyatheblackwidow.com/id3.html). It's sick...

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

oh, i don't doubt she could crush the spike's record, just saying 37 spike's dogs would likely be more food to shove down than 37 of another place's hot dogs.

that list is crazy though, i'm having trouble picking a favorite. 552 oysters though, damn...

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

I'm a fan of the Thanksgiving Meal Invitational: 7 and 3/4 pounds of Turducken in 12 minutes...

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

I can't believe she ate 8.31 pounds of Vienna sausages in 10 minutes. I think it would take me longer than 10 minutes to choke down one of those spawns of Satan.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

I ran into her there one day with a bunch of other people (Was that Halloween?) and she was with a guy, can't confirm married, but can't deny it either.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it is about tiny women and eating contests, but it's far from unprecedented, as pointed out above. Actually, almost every time I've been in Spike's, the top three or four competitors on the wall have all been women who seem fairly short and slender.

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

See also Kate Stelnick who at 115lbs consumed a 6lb (not including condiments) burger that had beaten much larger competitors:

http://katestelnick.com/

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Competitive eaters have a concept called the "belt of fat". The theory is that the less fat you have, the more your body can expand to accomodate a swollen stomach. Since fat stretches less than muscle, people with little abdominal fat have an advantage in eating contests.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

This seems a little iffy, since about half of competitive eaters are very slender and about half are average to chunky to fat. If you look at the Top Ten pix on the International Federation of Competitive Eaters (http://www.ifoce.com/eaters.php) site, you'll see what I mean.

Yes, I have written about competitive eating, and I will probably do it again, even though (or perhaps because) it makes me nauseated to watch.

[ron_newman]

Can I read one of your essays on this somewhere?

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I'll look for it and email it to you: it was so long ago that I don't think it would be archived on the Intertubes, sadly.

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

It's totally not relevant, but if you've ever been to Sandrine's in Harvard Sq. (And if you haven't, you must), they have GIANT chracouterie (a pile of sourkraut covered with a hunk of everything you can do to a pig, legally). My 6'5" husband eats about 1/5 of it and foes home groaning in pain. AND he takes the rest home for lunch for a week.

One day, I asked one of the waitresses if anyone has ever eaten the whole thing?

"Oh yes," she nodded. "Tiny little Korean and Japanese women. They demolish the whole thing and ask for dessert."

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

waiting for it, waiting for it......

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen her around here in a while...

[daft.livejournal.com]

Please do not tempt fate.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew what you guys were talking about.

[ron_newman]

Mr. Crepe is having a crepe-eating contest tomorrow!

[i-custard.livejournal.com]

Do you have a link to any details? I heard about it, but what time does it start? I wanna spectate...

[ron_newman]

Sorry I don't remember details. Call them in the morning when you see this.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/business/x2094358086/Mr-Crepes-will-celebrate-a-birthday-with-a-crepe-eating-contest

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Amazing, isn't it? I can only finish one Spike's dog if I pull off part of the huge bun. And I'm chubby.

It's not fair.

Do they also have a competition on...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Who vomits the farthest after eating 17 hot dogs?

Re: Do they also have a competition on...

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

Reversals of Fortune are not allowed in Major League Eating (http://www.majorleagueeating.com/).

(That's one of my favorite euphemisms...)

Re: Do they also have a competition on...

[ron_newman]

Vomiting is explicitly not allowed according to Spike's contest rules.

Re: Do they also have a competition on...

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

When I did the 6, they tried to tempt me by bringing out a 5-gallon bucket.

[beantownclown.livejournal.com]

Did I miss the boat on Spikes? I was drooling waiting for them to open, but have only been in once or twice since. I was actually a little overwhelmed by the menu if I remember correctly.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I went there and had a very good hot dog with fresh condiments and a fresh bun, but it took FOREVER (in the middle of the afternoon, too, not during a rush time) and it was pretty expensive by my cheap-ass standards.

Also, it does not compare even remotely to the amazingness of The Wiener's Circle (http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=1306) in Chicago.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i'm from rhode island and used to go to spike's there all the time, before i moved here years ago. i stopped for awhile, and then had a craving a few months back. i could not believe how much the prices went up! i think their dogs used to be only $2 something, which was not bad at all considering the size and all the stuff you could get on them.

they've since also cut the menu as far as what's put up on the wall anyway.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

Don't bother looking at the menu unless it's to get an idea of what toppings they have. Just go for whatever you want and they'll make it. It does a nice job of preventing the overwhelm.

[ritcey.livejournal.com]

Meh - I love hot dogs, but I just can't stand the rolls Spike's uses. French-bread != hot dog roll.

[rxrfrx.livejournal.com]

That's why I love them. That bread is way more tasty than the wonderbread-type traditional hot dog bun.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

For the record, the idea that someone small can eat ridiculously large quantities doesn't surprise me. I've been watching Kobayashi (http://partmule.com/Uploads/kobayashi_day_to_day.jpg) win the Nathan's competition for years and he's anything but fat. My surprise was that this woman who ate 17 hot dogs lives among us.

The rule for getting your photo on the wall was to pick "any 6 hot dogs of your choice" and eat them in 90 minutes without leaving the room for any reason and without vomiting. Jon and I think it's a little suspect that she was allowed to eat 17 without any toppings at all. The toppings and the buns they use are what create the real challenge. I'm putting an asterisk on her accomplishment.

I think I'd have no problems eating 6 hot dogs in 90 mins.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Even though I don't eat much, in general. But it cannot be good for your digestive system (though, evolutionarily, it would make sense for an organism to be able to handle a lot of food, when it is available).

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

I don't know her but I met her. She is in both first and second place. My friend tried to break the record and he was mid contest and she just happened to be there eating dinner. Which is either a BIG coincidence or the gal eats a LOT of hot dogs.


When he was on like dog 7 she walked up to him and said "I hope you know that if you break the record I'll just come in and rebreak it tomorrow".

COLD!

She may develop pancreatic cancer...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I read about it recently, but this is a random (oldish) media piece.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=9375

My husband is up there

[wench33.livejournal.com]

He managed to eat 6.

I can barely eat 2 and that's with no fries.