17 pounds of cheeseburgers defeat all but one at Man V Grill
October 2nd, 2012 Posted in Arts and LifeStory & photos by Jessica Wilkinson
LOGAN — Five locals competed in a downtown burger-eating contest: 45 minutes and 17-and-a- half pounds of cheeseburger later, only one succeeds.
Man V Grill: A 3 1/2 pound cheeseburger consumed in 45 minutes, or bust! Photo by Jessica Sonderegger.
“I’m just here ‘cause you get free money for doing it,” said two-time Man V Grill victor Bryan McLaughlin. “I’m low on free shirts.”
Center Street Grill held its eighth Man V Grill contest Friday night, a burger-eating challenge that is offered every couple of months. With each MVG competition the restaurant awards its qualifying contenders $50 in gift certificates and a reimbursement for their $20 burger.
But with the high reward comes a high standard: participants have a 45 minutes each to consume a triple-patty, three-and-a-half pound cheeseburger dressed with mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes—and in the instance their last bite isn’t chewed and swallowed by the end of the allotted time, all bets are off.
Four competitors walked away with nothing but a memory.
“We came in earlier for lunch and I was like hell yeah, I’m doin’ it,” said USU student and first time MVG competitor Andre Womack. Moments before throwing up the two patties he had successfully consumed, Womack suggested he was going vegetarian.
Jessica Polluck and Tim Polluck’s efforts were vanquished by Bryan McLaughlin, right, who won for his second time. Photo by Jessica Sonderegger.
Jessica Pollock and her husband Tim entered the competition after McLaughlin, a coworker of Jessica’s, introduced them to the challenge.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Tim said, “so I thought, why not?”
The Pollocks each finished about half of their burgers by the end of the 45 minutes, and Jessica requested two boxes to take home their leftovers.
Dakoda Shackleford, youngest of the five competitors, was gifted participation in MVG by his parents for his thirteenth birthday. Fourteen minutes into the competition Shackleford impressed spectators when he one-upped his co-competitors’ traditional cheeseburgers. “Excuse me? I was wondering if I could get some jalapenos.”
A dish of jalapenos was provided and refilled upon request. Shackleford quickly devoured about a third of his burger, but admitted he lost track of time.
Where four competitors ultimately lost to the “Grill,” McLaughlin won it all. With about a minute left, McLaughlin finally cleaned his plate and posed for pictures. He explained that he took longer to finish the burger this time than last.
“Tonight was an off night,” he said. “I don’t like that down-to-the wire crap.”
McLaughlin has accomplished an assortment of food-eating contests around the nation and is making plans to compete in a sandwich-eating contest in Preston, Idaho, in the next couple of weeks.
The next Man V Grill will be a Halloween edition on Oct. 26; contact Center Street Grill for more information.
NW
Tags: Bryan McLaughlin, burger-eating contest, Jessica Polluck, Man V Grill, Tim Polluck
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