What would a Fourth of July celebration be without fireworks, cookouts — and an eating contest?
Z-Burger observed Independence Day on Wednesday with its 15th annual burger-eating competition, which ended this year in a tie between two of the most competitive food-eaters in the world.
The event, held at the fast food restaurant’s Tenleytown location, included a jazz band, patriotic decorations — and a stretcher in case a contestant ate just one too many burgers.
Molly Schuyler, ranked as the top eater in the world, and Dan “Killer” Kennedy, the world’s third-ranked eater, tied after they both ate 34 hamburgers in 10 minutes.
Ms. Schuyler, who lives in Maryland, said that to prepare for what is now her 10th year of winning this competition, she simply “got up and came here.”
She said she started competing in food competitions after not liking her minimum wage salary at Applebee’s. Someone bet her that she could make more money eating sandwiches, “and I made more money eating sandwiches than I did working at Applebees,” she said.
After that, she “just kept doing it” and now has been competing in competitions like this for 12 years, Ms. Schuyler said.
Moments after finishing her 34th burger after noon, she jokingly announced to the crowd that she still had to be at work at 3.
Ms. Schuyler said she didn’t have a choice but to be at work, even after eating all of those burgers. “I just take care of my kids,” she said.
While Ms. Schuyler is a reigning champ of the Z-Burger competition, this was Mr. Kennedy’s first time winning the event after having placed second for the seven previous years.
Mr. Kennedy says his strategy for this competition was to get up, get his body loose and “get ready to swallow meat for 10 minutes.”
He said he just tries to get manageable bites by using bottled water to chase it down, and just keeps that rhythm going and seeing “where the dust settles after 10 minutes.”
His strategy seemed to work this time, as he topped his previous record of 32 Z-Burgers.
And the competition wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for Z-Burgers founder Peter Tabibian, who said the Fourth of July has always been his favorite holiday
Mr. Tabibian said burgers and America go “hand-in-hand,” which is why he has hosted what he calls the No. 1 burger-eating competition in America for 15 years.
“Who wants to go to New York for some hotdog eating contest?” Mr. Tabibian said, referring to the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island.
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