Competitive Eater Beats St. Cloud Challenge With Seconds To Spare

(KNSI) – A competitive eating internet sensation added to his world record total on Tuesday evening here in St. Cloud.

Up in Smoke BBQ debuted its barbecue platter challenge, consisting of seven pounds of food to be downed in only 45 minutes. Owner Tim Hoefer says it almost got the best of Randy Santel. “He says the food was awesome. How he put it, it was a “capital C” challenge.”

According to Hoefer, Santel finished his last bite with only 13 seconds to spare. Santel has over two million followers on his social media pages, and fans crammed the restaurant to meet him. Hoefer says they came from all corners of the state, even Fargo, North Dakota.

The challenge was supposed to begin at 6:00 p.m. but got off to a late start to accommodate the crowd. Hoefer exclaims, “We were out the door about 45 minutes to an hour before the event. The event did started about, I think it was about 15 minutes or so late, half-hour late, just due to how many people were there for the meet and greet.”

Hoefer says he was monitoring online reactions to the event, and it sounds like there are a lot of people looking to join Santel on the Hall of Fame plaque. Rules on how to take on the heaping helping of brisket, cornbread, ribs, wings, and sides will be released on Wednesday.

Up in Smoke’s Facebook page is here.

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