In eating contest, ‘Black Widow’ is woman of devour

Kirk Baird

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 8:18 a.m.

Call it: Man vs. Beef.

In a stomach-stretching spectacle Saturday afternoon at the Plaza, 12 of the top competitive eaters in the world attempted to devour the hotel-casino's 9-pound Barrick Burger in less than an hour.

At stake was a total of $9,000 in prizes -- including $3,250 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,250 for third place -- as well as bragging rights: No one has ever completed the mammoth task in the allotted time.

Of course, the International Federation of Competitive Eating, the governing body of all "stomach-centric sports," has never challenged the record.

Featuring colorful nicknames such as Eric "Badlands" Booker, Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, "Hungry" Charles Hardy and "Krazy" Kevin Lipsitz, however, the group of "gurgitators" appeared to have the advantage over the behemoth burger.

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, in particular, was an early favorite.

The slight 105-pound woman from Alexandria, Va., is the No. 1 ranked competitive eater in the United States, and No. 2 in the world.

Rich "The Locust" LeFevre of Henderson, ranked the No. 2 competitive eater in the nation, No. 3 worldwide, said Thomas is "the greatest eater America's ever seen."

"She's a phenomenal talent," said the 130-pound retired accountant who holds the world record for eating chili: 1 1/2 gallons in 10 minutes.

"Every time I improve and get closer to her, she pulls further ahead."

In past eating competitions, Rich usually finishes behind Thomas: 32-28 in a 12-minute hot dog-eating contest; 46-41 in an 8-minute Krystal square burger-eating contest; 89-82 in a 8-minute meatball-eating contest.

"If she has an offday, I can beat her," he said. "The problem is, she never has an offday."

While Rich didn't like his chances against Thomas, his main competition, as it turned out, was the burger itself.

The Barrick Burger is the equivalent of 36 McDonald's Quarter Pounders, and is nearly two pounds heavier than the average child at birth.

The meat, at 13 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 half inches in density, resembles the front tire of a Big Wheel more than a hamburger patty, and each bun is at least two Frisbees thick.

While the burgers in the competition were served as meat and bun only -- vegetables were not included to reduce the risk of choking -- all the contestants opted for an additional 18 slices of melted American cheese on the patty.

Mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup were also available in bowls for dipping the meat or smearing on the bun.

To help wash down the burger, each gurgitator had a pitcher of water -- for dunking the food, making it easier to swallow -- as well as cups and bottles of water.

While not quite the heavyweight spectacle of Rocky Balboa versus Clubber Lang, the look of the gurgitators when they first saw their beefy opponents indicated they knew they were in for a fight.

"I don't know what to expect," said Carlene LeFevre, Rich's wife and the No. 7 competitive eater in the world, minutes before the contest. "And the unknown is difficult."

From the outset of the chew-and-swallow marathon, the competitors generally took two approaches to devouring the burger:

Some in the group, such as Booker and Thomas, ate through the buns first, tearing pieces off and shoveling them into their mouths. Others, such as the LeFevres, opted to swallow the meat first and save the bun for last.

Midway through the competition, though, all strategies were disregarded in favor of a primal gorge fest.

The frenzied pace got to be too much for one gurgitator, Jarvis, who lost his cookies, resulting in instant disqualification.

Near the end of the race, the competitive eaters were all pulling for Thomas, who, by then, had a commanding lead over Rich and Booker.

"Everybody was" cheering for Thomas, Rich said. "We just wanted it to be over."

Thomas ended the belt-busting bout at 48 minutes and 10 seconds as Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" blared in the background.

But the mood of the gurgitators was far from celebratory -- most seemed exhausted by their ordeal.

"It's the toughest competition I've ever been in," Rich said.

After weighing the remnants on each plate, it was determined that Rich finished second, Booker third, Las Vegan Ron "Hizonner" Koch finished fourth, while Carlene finished fifth.

Between them, the LeFevers walked away with $2,300.

"That was misery," Carlene said. "Still, I got paid well for 48 minutes of work."

Although the couple vowed to enter the Barrick Burger competition again next year, not surprisingly, they've had their fill of ground meat for now.

"I'm glad it's over," Carlene said. "Tomorrow it's back to a healthful regimen."