Randy Santel stares into the camera, his plate almost empty.
His stomach juts out, it’s been a busy season, he looks exhausted—when he wipes his face I can
not help but wonder how much sweat is intermingling with food debris on the napkin.
“This is my last challenge in Scotland as a professional eater.” He says, wiping his brow, shaking
his head slightly but slowly.
For the first time in nearly a decade I begin to wonder if Randy Santel may be nearing the end
of his road of dominance.
If you ask people name a competitive eater, usually they name Joey Chestnut.
Chestnut is nothing if not inevitable, you bet not on if he will win the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating
Competition, but what the margin will be.
He has won 14 of the last 15 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, the tentpole even of the
competitive eating world.
It is Chestnut’s face that is in ESPN montages, Chestnut’s bravado that has propelled the sport
to new heights, Chestnut who may well get the sport’s first statue.
Chestnut’s world is one of flash, but the best competitive eater to have ever lived primarily
operates in the shadows of YouTube.
I cannot remember exactly where I saw Randy Santel for the first time, but I know we share a
heritage.