Living in a part of Kansas where winning, especially in high school athletics, is looked upon favorably and even held as a tradition in some schools, I appreciate competition and the ensuing victory.
Though it has been some time since I last competed in a physical contest, in large part to a body that now consists of round as its shape, I am proud to say I won something Saturday night.
I went to Jeeps Motorcycle Club Saturday to watch Randy Schafer of Eagle Racing compete in two of the four-wheeler portions of the evening’s 40 races.
Schafer is a Galva native who now lives in Goessel, and I graduated high school with his brother Travis, who also attended the race along with his parents, my father Steve, my brother Troy and a whole host of Canton-Galva natives.
Randy won both races and received a trophy. He is good, but he isn’t the only one who came out victorious.
I entered the hamburger eating contest, and I came away $20 richer.
It was a race against time and two other chow hounds.
We only had to eat one hamburger and finish a bottle of water. Each burger was stacked two, thick, patties high with all the fixings smashed onto the top. The first person to finish the entire meal was the winner.
Finally being a portly fellow paid off for me.
Of course, I wouldn’t have been inclined to even sign up had it not been for the encouragement of Canton-Galva crowd in attendance.
Everyone else said they were signing up too, so I joined in.
However, I didn’t know that everyone was signing my name up and not their own.
I guess I didn’t even need to put my name in the hat because about 10 others already had done so for me.
Thanks everyone for helping me get a free meal at the races.
As the crowd chanted for my name to be drawn, the master of ceremonies reached into the bucket and pulled out my name.
The crowd erupted, and Travis leaned over and told me that everyone had signed me up.
Imagine how surprised I would have been had I not signed myself up too.
In any event I lumbered out onto the track and took my seat next to two skinny gents.
I unwrapped my burger as the announcer said the only rule was we had to finish all the food and the water. Otherwise, it was open to anything.
As they said go, I pushed the burger of one of my opponents away, just to make sure he didn’t get ahead.
I jumped to an early lead, so I began to take it easy, all while still swallowing half the burger whole.
From the crowd I could hear support being shouted. A couple people where calling me derogatory names as a way to motivate, and my brother insinuated I was fat because I was pregnant by telling me to “feed the twins.”
Then the other skinny fellow began to make up ground, so I kicked into overdrive.
I chewed like I had never chewed before, using my water to wash done chunks of unchewed burger.
It came down to the wire, but I was able to open my mouth and show the judge it was empty before the skinny kid could.
The third competitor wasn’t even close.
When I was declared the winner, everyone cheered me on loudly and proudly.
I grabbed my prize money and went back into the stands to receive my accolades from my friends and family.
Victory has never tasted so good.
