Thunder Bay spaghetti and watermelon eating champion takes home another win at hot dog contest

The 42nd annual Westfort Street Fair kicked off its first-ever hot dog eating contest in Thunder Bay, Ont. this weekend.

Six contestants from all corners of the city battled it out in a dog-eat-dog contest on Saturday at the Heartbeat Hot Sauce Co. stage for the title of Hot Dog Champion.

Their united goal was to eat as many hot dogs as they could stomach in under 5 minutes, including the buns — donated by Emily's Bread.

Sean Spenrath, the host of the hot dog eating contest, sponsored by Westfort Foods, said with every bite, they will be honouring the rich tradition of the community, where "family fun and food go hand in hand."

"It gets kids involved in sport and play, which is so important for our community and the youth in our community," said Spenrath.

"We had a lot of volunteers and for every hot dog that was consumed, the money [$50] was donated to Our Kids Count, which is such an incredible charity."

Through these contestants' efforts, the contest raised $2,250, which the special mystery competitor, the Westfort Yeti, increased to $5,000.

A 'long five minutes up on the stage'

Daniel Trevisanutto, the chair of Our Kids Count's board of directors, competed in the hot dog eating contest under the moniker 'the Glizzy Guzzler.'

He said he participated in the competition because he wanted to represent the charity as a way to thank Westfort Foods for "everything they've done for us today."

"I think it's a great thing," said Trevisanutto. "[It's] another great event to bring the community down, show what Westfort has to offer in the city and just one more thing to bring people together."

However, he added it was a tough contest to prepare for.

"The big thing was not to eat anything this morning except some water [and] make sure I come in hungry," said Trevisanutto. "And after that, it was just sort of 'ignore the crowd' and just see what I could do until they said stop."

While this might be a one-and-done contest for him, he said he may return next year.

Underdog turned Hot Dog Champion

Trevisanutto was not alone in the battle of the dogs. Many of his fellow contenders also had to resort to the bun-in-water technique to keep up. 

These contenders included names like Avery 'The Glizzard,' Kevin 'The Raw Dogger,' Manu 'The Hot Diggity Dog,' and Danica Jones, the 'Glizzy Gobbler.'

With previous wins at local spaghetti and watermelon eating competitions, Jones outdid all of her competitors by consuming an outstanding record of 10 hot dogs. She said it felt good to beat "all the big guys in the contest."

"[I had] no plan. I just showed up hungry and kind of just was hoping for the best and it turned out that it worked," said Jones.

Jones not only took home the trophy and title of Hot Dog Champion, but also $250 and a ticket to the upcoming Wake the Giant music festival.

She hopes to defend her title at next year's hot dog eating contest.