Erik the Red in Sweden

Click Here to listen to my radio interview with the Swedish radio station P3, which aired in Sweden on Monday, 9-25-06.

New Spot Shrimp Record Success!!

Here are the official results from the 2006 Groz-with-Gas-a-thon spot shrimp world record attempt, 9-22-2006:

12 minute contest

Erik the Red Denmark(12), 4 lbs. 15 ozs. - New World Record



Ok, so I wasn't competing against anyone but myself, time, and the aura of the Godfather, Hungry Charles Hardy. This contest was really a new experience for me, all of the attention was on me, which seems to elevate things a bit in a good way. Of course, the goal of my stunt was to bring some excitment and attention to the purpose of the event, which was to rasie money for three great local charities. I am proud to say that this years event also set a record for the most money they have rasied in one day in the ten year history of the event with over $77,000 dollars rasied for charity.

The shrimp were very well prepared, spot shrimp is a meatier breed of shrimp and the tails are about 25% bigger than normal size shrimp. There was about 25-30 shrimp on each one pound plate and I managed to make through almost seven plates in the 12 minutes. I estimate I ate around 185 shrimp. It is difficult to say when exactly the record was broken because the tails ended up weighing around 2 pounds, which made the final outcome very close. In the first five minutes of the contest I was soaking the shrimp in cocktail sauce to make them easier to swallow but I noticed that I was getting a lot of sauce on the tails and in the "dump" bowl which would count against me in the end. I had to stop using the cocktail sauce and drink more liquids to facilitate swallowing at that point. As far as my performance, I am very proud of it, I was in a good rhythm the entire contest and I think I put out my best effort, which is all I could hope for.

It was pretty sweet to be able to perform for the first time in my hometown of Seattle and to be able to have many of my friends and family there to support me. Anthony's on Pier 66 is an amazing venue perching right on the shore of the Puget Sound with views of the majestic Olympic mountains in the background. Ray the Bison Meduna was on hand to judge the event and to oversee the final numbers. Ray is a class act and I knew with his presence that the contest would run smooth and our competitive eating strength would be doubled in Seattle.

There was a very impressive list of local sports and other celebrities that were present at some point during the day of the event. I feel humbled and honored to be listed with the following people who participated:

Tyrone Willingham - UW Husky Football Head Coach
Lorenzo Romar - UW Husky Basketball Head Coach
Greg Lewis - Former UW Husky Football Running Back
Bob Rondeau - UW Husky Play-by-Play Announcer
Warren Moon - Former Husky, Hall of Fame NFL Quarterback
Mike Holmgren - Seahawk Head Coach
Sean Alexander - Seahawk running Back 2005 NFL MVP
Mack Strong - Seahwak Fullback
Ken Hamlin - Seahawk Safety
Rashard Lewis - Supersonic
Nick Collison - Supersonic
Luke Ridnour - Supersonic
Bob Hill - Supersonic Head Coach
James Donaldson - Former Supersonic
Dale Ellis - Former Supersonic
Jack Sikma - Former Seattle Supersonic
Kevin Calabro - Supersonic Play-by-Play Announcer
Norm Charlton - Formet Seattle Mariner Pitcher
Dan Wilson - Former Seattle Mariner Catcher
Bill Krueger - Former Seattle Mariner Pitcher

It was truly a great day. Check out video and photos below...

Click Here for the Flickr gallery of pics from the event
Click Here for video of the contest introduction
Click Here for video of the last 10 seconds of the contest

I hope to get video of the entire contest posted soon.

Spot Shrimp Record Will Go Down!!

This Friday, September 22 at 4:30 pm (PST) I will be attempting to break "the Godfather" Hungry Charles Hardy's record for spot shrimp consumption. Hardy's record currently stands at 4 lbs. 9 oz. in 12 minutes. I am not sure exactly what contest the record was established but Charles said the record was established in August of 2002 in Alaska.

My record breaking attempt will be a highlight in this year's Groz with Gas-A-Thon , which is a huge one day live on-air and online charity effort including a charity auction to support local Seattle organizations. The three main charities that will benefit from this year's effort will be CAYA – Central Area Youth Association, Northwest Literacy Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity of East King County.

I am proud to be a part of this great effort and cause and I surely intend to set a new world record for spot shrimp in honor of these Seattle charities and participating organizations.

CLICK HERE to listen to radio interview with Charles Hardy and Me on with Groz and Gas on Tuesday, 9-19-06

I invite everyone in the Seattle locale to come down to Anthony's on Pier 66 in Seattle on Friday to be a part of it. The charity event will be going on from 10AM - 7PM(PST) and I will be eating around 4:30PM (PST). If you can't make it or you don't live near Seattle you can listen to the event live on the radio at 950 AM, or live on the Internet at 950kjr.com (click the 'listen live' button on the menu).

My participation in this event has been approved and sanctioned by the IFOCE so the record (if I break it) will be official.

Oklahoma Fried Okra Results 9/16/06

Top four Results (IFOCE rank in paranthesis)

10 minute contest

1st - Sonya the Black Widow Thomas(3) - 9.75 lbs, $1500
2nd - Pat "Black Out" Bertoletti(4) - 9.5 lbs, $1000
3rd - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 5 lbs, $500
4th - Miles Karpe(NR) - 4.5 lbs

Click Here for NewsOK article about the event

Click Here for Lahunta Blog entry about the event

Photo courtesy of NewsOK coverage:

The okra was slippery and chewy but went down pretty fast

Krystal Square Off III Qualifier in Nashville 9/10/06

Complete Results (IFOCE rank in paranthesis)

1st - Humble Bob Shoudt(5) - 52
2nd - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 34
3rd - Juris Shibayama(NR) - 33
4th- Jim "Hammer" Hamrick(27) - 22
5th- Kevin "The Carborator" Carr(31) - 21
6th-Lynn Curley(NR) - 20
6th-Adam Dickens(NR) - 20
8th-Chris Wooten(NR) - 17
9th-Matthew Bailey(NR) - 16
10th-Andrew Wong(NR) - 15
10th-Justin Smith(NR) - 15
10th-Mitchell Miller(NR) - 15
13th-Brandon Williams(NR) - 14

2.5 inch buns, thin meat patties, chopped onions, and mustard. That is the simple makeup of a competition Krystal burger (the store bought version contains a pickle). They come on trays of 20 in their own individual branded box. Everyone gets as many 44 oz. branded plastic cups as they need for the competition. A Krystal must be consumed in full, no fractions of Krystals will be counted towards an eaters total. Dunking is allowed as well as separating or squashing or whatever else you could come up with to the eat the burger as long as all of it is consumed. The contest is a sprint, eight minutes, a full four minutes shorter than the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition.

My opinion - the Krystal Square Off kicks some ass. Nathan's should send some reps out to a contest and check out how it is done - simple, efficient, and standardized. Also, when the finals are complete in Chattanooga, TN on October 28th, Krystal will be paying every eater who qualifies a share of the $30,000 purse - take note Nathan's.

Anyway, about the contest - I had been looking forward to this test for awhile, especially since most of the contests I have been in since Nathan's have been either debris food (ribs, chicken wings), or unusaul ones like jalapenos or the "buffet bowl" which have not been strictly about speed, capacity and technique. That being said, I was fairly pleased with my result of 34. Of course, my goal for the contest was at least 37, which would have all but guaranteed me a spot in the finals with Crazy Legs (36 burgers) and Seaver Miller (35 burgers) holding the top two wild card spots.

I knew it would be tough to beat Humble Bob on Sunday with his Krystal experience from last year and Krystals being one of his favorite competition foods. But honestly, I don't think Humble Bob had one of his best days and he surely fell below his expectations going in to the weekend. But a win is a win and 52 is nothing to be ashamed of especially since that really means nothing in terms how the finals will play out. At least Bob knows he will more than likely be standing (or sitting) next to Joey at the finals assuming that they seat everyone according to their qualifying number not their rank.

This 8 minute contest was the shortest real contest I have ever been in (I don't count the Buffet Bowl). As with most contests, the biggest damage is done within the first 2 minutes so if anyone expects to do well, they better be sprinting out of the gate. I had hoped to get at least 18 down in the first two minutes and than incrementally work my way up to 40. After a good first minute (10 burgers), I slowed too much and I think I was at around 15 in two minutes. I knew I was behind where I wanted to be so I tried to speed up and just dunk without drinking water to reach my next goal marker of 25 in four minutes. I couldn't do it, I was having trouble swallowing and I slowed down to a near crawl, I managed only five burgers over the next two minutes, which left me way behind my pace. Finally, I tore off my cowboy hat and bandana to free up my brain and I picked up some water and managed to settle in to a decent second half rhythym.

As time was winding down I knew every Krystal I could shove in would be critical in terms of a wild card berth, not to mention that according to the numbers Emcee Ryan Nerz was spouting out, I was still one burger behind Juris Shibayama, an impressive rookie on a torid pace. I shoved two burgers in the last six seconds which left my mouth no room for oxygen. I am normally positive that whatever will fit in my mouth at the end of a contest I will eventually be able to swallow. But this time I had managed to get a whole burger patty wedged between my uvula and the back of my throat which was really causing me to gag every time I tried to chew what was in front of it. After some consternation I decided to take a chance and just swallow without chewing. This really could have been bad but fortunately I didn't choke and nothing came back up.

Juris Shibayama finsihed in third with 33 and he has a pretty interesting story. He is a spine surgen who lives in Nashville and though admitting to being a fan of competitive eating said that he really had not trained for the contests (he won the two minute qualifier the day before with 14). He has a strong, athletic build and definitely seems as though he would have the intelligence to work his body in to competitive eating shape. Though, he did mention that he won't be able to travel much because his job requires him to be on call a lot on the weekends. We'll see, I think he would fit in well with the rest of the nut jobs (myslef included) on the circuit.

Do I think 34 will hold up for one of the four wild card spots? Despite hope being a powerful ally of mine, I think it is likely I will be in Jackson for the last qualifier.

(I hope to get some pictures from the contest soon from Krystal Brad)

Acoma Jalapeno Results 8/25/06

Results form the Showdown in Acoma (IFOCE rank in paraenthesis)

1st - Pat "Black Out" Bertoletti(4) - 177 jalapenos $1000
2nd - Rich "the Locust" LeFevre(8) - 155 jalapenos $500
3rd - Jalapeno Jed Donahue(18) - 144 jalapenos $375
4th - Erik the Red Denmark(12) - 107 jalapenos $250
5th - Buffalo Jim Reeves(19) - 73 jalapenos $150
6th - Donovan Busta(NR) - 56 jalapenos
7th - Don "Moses" Lerman(29) - 49 jalapenos

I think I am finally waking up from my travel and competitive eating induced coma over the past three weeks. I have been busy and honestly the schedule has worn me down a bit but let me recount my last three contest adventures for you starting with jalapenos (Excerpts of the following are taken from an interview with Liz and Krista and are published Here at Urban Honking's Truefan) :

I was not really surprised by the winning total of 177 and that Pat took the title. I was very surprised and impressed however that three eaters ended up over 140 and that I was not one of them. Pat, Jed, and Rich all had great days. It is a shame that this contest was not held at a bigger venue with more attention because it was definitely one of the most grueling and entertaining tests of 1. speed, 2. capacity, and especially 3. resistance from the vinegar, heat, and flavor of the jalapenos.

I personally was not that impressed by my own total of 107. I was doing fairly well in the first 8-9 minutes of the contest, I had about 90 down and I was probably 30-35 behind Pat. I stood up from a sitting position to try and wiggle the food lower in my stomach and the taste and the vinegar hit me suddenly and my body reacted violently - I threw up twice in my mouth and my cheeks were bulging as I was trying to keep it in, the regurgitated jalapeno juice started coming out of my nose! I managed to compose myself and swallow what was in my mouth but I was walking a very thin line the rest of the contest, I did not push it at all after that because a reversal and disqualification would have been devastating to me. This contest was a test of will.

As far as Don Lerman's performance, I think it is about what I expected. I laughed at the comments he made on his website, not because I don't respect Don but because I know he was really only trying to draw attention to himself and the contest and that he would use it as motivation. Don acts completely different in person than he does online, he was very cordial and reserved the couple of times I have met him. I feel bad that Don won't let go of the past and that he won't retire or at least take any real time off to try and improve his health and potentially gain some of the form he used to show. I appreciate the effort that Don puts forth but he finished with only 49 jalapenos and he can't be competitive with numbers like that.

Here are some photos from the contest courtesy of Jed Donahue:

Just makes me hungry to look at them


The professional eaters before the contest
sans me - AKA the stars of "Cats" the musical


Ok, here I am...


The calm before the storm in Jim Reeves stomach


The aftermath; Pat's plates are in background,
my leftovers are in the foreground...



"Black Out" Bertoletti posing with his plates