Competitive Speed Eating

Jan. 9 -- How many meatballs could you eat in a minute?  For those in the competitive sport of speed eating, the quantity includes 40 of the Italian specialties in just four minutes.

Watch Bill Ritter's full report on competitive eating tonight on 20/20.

A group of these quick chewers recently competed for American Eater of the Year at an end of the year championship. The event was an all you can eat contest with a time limit of 12 minutes. 

On the menu: Turducken, a chicken wrapped in a duck, wrapped in a turkey.  

The top competitors have quite a record of consumption. One-hundred pound Sonya Thomas of Virginia, a rookie on the circuit, won a previous event by wolfing down 43 ½ tacos in 11 minutes.  Her toughest challenge: Beating No.1 ranked American eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, who weighs in at 409 pounds.    

Jarvis, a realtor from Long Island is proud of his achievements which include the 40 meatballs in four minutes, 30 ½ hot dogs and buns at Nathan's Fourth of July Contest, coverage in The Wall Street Journal and even Playboy and a room full of trophies for his lightning speed eating.  

"Two-and-a-half pounds of pickles in five minutes, full sours," Jarvis told ABCNEWS.  "Which is a lot of jaw strength."  

Jarvis and Thomas are part of a community of speed eaters who compete throughout the year, trying to out chomp their competitors and gain a level of distinction.  

"It makes me, it makes me happy, you know" said Thomas.  "So it was like a, oh, now I'm kind of important."

Background of the Binge

 Eating contests are not a new idea.  The end of the year championship match is an outgrowth of Nathan's Fourth of July hot dog eating contest which has been running annually near the beach in Coney Island since 1914. 

As crowds lined up each summer to watch 20 people race through stacks of hot dogs organizers George and Richard Shea realized they were on to a goldmine. They have since formed the International Federation of Competitive Eating and hold contests throughout the year as an organized competitive circuit for speed eaters.