John Brumbaugh

What requires ketchup, mustard and liability waivers?

A hot dog-eating contest, of course.

The ‘Top Dog Challenge’ was hosted by a group of five Central Michigan University students Wednesday evening at the Pixie, 302 N. Mission St.

It started as a charity project for RPL 430: Recreational Programming and it led to a hungry gathering of brave contestants.

One of the group leaders, Katie Talbert, explained how the event was created.

“All of the money we raise is going to the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, so since our project dealt with food we decided on a hot dog-eating contest,” the Rochester Hills junior said. “The Pixie is known for its hot dogs and coney dogs, so we thought we’d host it there because it tied in well with the project.”

The group also sold T-shirts and collected change for the charity. After four rounds and about 80 hot dogs, four champions left the Pixie with gift certificates to local restaurants. The winners consumed three hot dogs the fastest.

In round one for the men, Jason Martin, a Waterford senior, started things off with a time of 1:38. Shepherd freshman Kara Pifer came in at 3:20 for the women’s round. Mike Harrier, an Alma senior in the faculty round had a 1:36 time. In the last round for the men Matt Mielock, a Saginaw sophomore, ended things with a record-breaking 37 seconds.

“I think I did pretty good,” Martin said. “The competition was weak in my round anyway.”

Pifer was right at home in the eating competition because it was not her first; she had taken home the gold in a pancake-eating contest in the past and felt prepared for this event.

“The trick is to start off slow, then down the last one really fast,” she said.

Regardless of who won, every contestant left with an “Ask Me About My Weiner” T-shirt. All proceeds went toward the Isabella Community Soup Kitchen, 621 S. Adams St.

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