Photograph courtesy Jungle Jim's International Market
Host and producer of the Jungle Jim’s Podcast and this year’s host of the market’s Pickle Wars competitive pickle-eating competition, Mark Borison, shares his insights into competitive eating contests.
How many people compete?
About 100 competitors total over two days.
What makes people want to take on eating challenges?
There’s a sense of excitement and glory, and when you’re doing it live like this, you’ve got a much larger audience.
What method did you see used by successful competitors?
The one thing that’s guaranteed successful for anybody is speed. Anybody that was successful just ate incredibly fast and stayed the course.
What’s the most rewarding part of eating challenges?
The public adulation is big, but there’s also always a prize.
What’s the most difficult part?
Overcoming the physical and mental hurdle. How do you eat without getting sick? It’s also odd to eat in front of an audience. There’s a weird psychological disconnect there.
Where do you see people fail most often?
When they slow down. They say that if you eat slowly, you will feel fuller, faster.
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