Qdoba holds eating contest

It was proof that you can have too much of a good thing.

Nineteen brave eaters… It was proof that you can have too much of a good thing.

Nineteen brave eaters participated in Qdoba Mexican Grill’s first burrito eating contest Saturday afternoon.

Participants had to chow down on three chicken burritos with black beans, salsa, cheese and sour cream. Each burrito was topped with a different variety of salsa: mild, hot and X-hot. The first to finish the last bite was to be awarded $100.

Rules for the competition included “no trips to the bathroom” and “any regurgitation disqualifies the contestant.”

Members of the audience felt the white bags of burritos as they were being handed out and marveled at the weight of the three burritos.

“Three burritos is about 60 ounces of burrito,” Chad Brooks, owner of Qdoba, told the contestants and the cheering audience before the eating began.

“You can shove it or spoon it, do whatever you want to do,” he said.

Participants were lined up at tables with their burritos and multiple glasses of water.

“Yeah, I’m pretty much a hog … and I’m one of those people who’ll do anything for money,” Mike McGrosky said as he anticipated eating his three burritos.

“I am versed in eating,” Pitt freshmen Zach Lipson said before the competition.

Lipson, however, could not finish his three burritos.

“It was too disgusting,” he said.

The contestants shoved the burritos in their mouths as onlookers screamed cheers such as “slurp that meat.”

About 10 minutes later, Pitt senior Ashley Wingert took the last bite of his burritos. Wingert credited his success to preparation.

“I was training for a week,” he said. “I was eating two cups of rice a day.”

Wingert was awarded an expanded cash prize of $120 for his burrito-eating talents.

But Wingert was not the only one who had trained for the event.

“I ate two burritos in six minutes on Thursday and have been drinking water to expand my stomach,” senior Chris Watson said.

Watson and Jeff Knox were awarded a $10 prize for their admirable efforts. Both were leading the contest at the beginning, but were not able to keep their burritos in their stomachs.

Knox explained he hadn’t prepared for the competition at all and drank “160 ounces” of water around noon to expand his stomach for the contest.

While disappointed with his regurgitation he said, “I get to eat burritos and get a shirt for free.”

Brooks and other Qdoba employees gave participants and onlookers “get naked” T-shirts, advertising a Qdoba specialty, the naked burrito.

Brooks said this was the first of many burrito-eating competitions at the establishment, and he hopes to have one at least every semester.