New York Hot Dog Challenge

How do you celebrate your birthday? I like to have a bunch of my crazy friends run 3 miles while eating hot dogs.

I started my day with an 18 mile run withe the team (Gotham City Runners). It was cold, but manageable. We had a pretty good turn out, most of whom were just in for a 10-12 mile jaunt. I needed to get some more miles in due to my upcoming early spring marathon.

Coming up the west side and entering the Park, snow started to fall. It was actually quite beautiful and I happen to love running while it’s snowing out as long as I’m not trudging through 2 feet of the stuff. Guess who we passed a few times? Ryan Hall.

I finished my 18 miles then booked it over to the apartment to get cleaned up for the New York Hot Dog Challenge.

Abbe went to do recon on the hot dog carts as we were worried the snow was going to deter a few from coming out. She called me later on as I was enroute, and just like snails after a rain storm, all the hot dog carts had come out to play! Game on.

We had a small turnout this year based on weather, but there was still $360 bucks to be won.

I explained the rules to a few newcomers and then the ‘start dog’ was saluted and they began eating.

First done and off running was Neal! Kevin, Juan and Matt6 followed shortly after. Cat, the only female competitor to show, had all the time in the world so she relished the moment. Ha, get it.

As I chased after the leaders ( I was to be lead ref) I realized that running 18 miles then chasing seasoned runners and Ironmen at breakneck pace was maybe a bad idea.

AT cart 2, on 59th and 5th Avenue it was anyone’s game. Juan finished slightly ahead and took off to cart 3, a block away. I was with him. As soon as he got his dog KB and Matt6 sprinted up, ordering their dogs. Juan seemed to know that this was his moment to make a move and he did.

He finished as they were maybe half way through and took off at a sub 6 pace down 5th. It looked like something out of a crime movie with the 2 of us running after each other, especially since I was wearing jeans and a black jacket.

At cart 4 Elizabeth caught up to us. She then sped ahead to the next area, ‘Dead Man’s Corner’ notorious for stopping competitors. As Juan and I followed I saw no sign of the others.

While at cart 5 and 6, it was amazing to watch Juan in action. He wasn’t talking and very focused. He also had a very interesting technique, which I will not share as that would be giving away trade secrets.

Once again, as we took off I saw no sign of any competitors.

Down at 6th Avenue and 46th Street he was about to enter ‘The Gauntlet.’ It was a straight shot to the finish from 6th Ave to 8th Ave that included 4 hot dogs, no easy feat.

When we hit 7th Ave (cart 8) Abbe caught up and so did Matt6! I got really excited at the thought of a photo finish, a first in New York Hot Dog Challenge races.

Juan wasn’t having it though and he set off to cart 9 with a fury. All the competitors were slowing down now.

Just as Juan was finishing dog 9 Matt6 came running up. It was going to depend on that 10th dog for sure. We took off to the final cart.

Once again, as Juan was finishing Matt6 arrived and began to eat.

Juan finished and we blasted down 46th Street towards Rudy’s.

As we arrived Juan high-fived the pig and felt the sting of Hot Dog Challenger glory. Matt6 came up around 2 minutes behind taking second place. Both had course PR’s with Juan’s breaking the course record by 3 minutes! KB came up shortly after noting that he had DNFd at dog 5.

We hung out for awhile outside, then poured into Rudy’s to celebrate and await Neal and Cat.

Neal, with his blue wig and Hawaiian shirt popped in about ten minutes or so after we had been in the bar. We were now following Cat’s progress and she had just finished the 10th dog and was on the homestretch. We went out to power arch her, but she came in and said in dismay, “I puked!” She still gets an A in my book, but rules are rules and she did not qualify for the female finisher prize, meaning Juan took home all $360!

Juan, being the good sportsman he is, did give Cat an undisclosed amount of the prize money.

We all stayed at Rudy’s until 5PM celebrating as the snow came down.

Thanks for everyone who came out to compete AND our volunteer refs AND all of our sponsors, especially Gotham City Runners! This is no easy race.

I was really looking forward to the 2nd Annual New York Hot Dog Challenge. To see an idea come to light 13 years after its inception is quite a treat.

This year, we had raised $350 in prize money but had fewer competitors. The other rule change was that the prize money was to be split by the 1st Male and 1st Female instead of a ‘Winner Take All’ program like last year. I was hoping this would inspire some of our female athletes, but as of Friday only my friend Elizabeth was in.

After running the back half of the course to make sure all the hot dog carts were there (they were and THEN some) I made my way to the start giddy with excitement.

We met at the bottom of the Central Park Mall, the sight just one month earlier of Abbe and I’s engagement…

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After explaining the rules the competitors each bought the first dog, a tradition, eating together. Once someone finished they could take off, and they did!

My goal the whole race was to stick with the leaders to keep track of a potential winner. From the Start to dog 1 of ‘7th Circle of Hell’ a 4 dog spree around Columbus Circle, was almost a mile. Matt6 hit the cart first followed by Bo, Neal, Elizabeth, Tony and our last years champ Dave Tao. This cart (it was said later) had the worst dogs. They were dubbed ‘The Brown Dogs’ by the competitors.

Bo and Matt6 took of first so I stuck with them as we made our way around the ‘7th Circle of Hell’. These hot dog vendors got really into the race and started cheering us on. It was here that Bo started to pull away from Matt6. By cart 5 he was almost a whole dog ahead of him meaning, in Hot Dog Challenge speak, by the time Matt6 was arriving at the cart, Bo was just finishing his dog. After a few quick exchanges, Bo was off.

I was really excited as we arrived at ‘Dollar Dogs’ because this is pretty cheap for a hot dog. I did my scouting during the weekday so there was a chance that this cart might be a no show on weekends. Matt and Tony were right on Bo’s ass. We found out that Elizabeth was out of the race, making things interesting as now the full $350 prize purse went to the overall winner. That’s a lot of cash.

Bo and I made our way back up to the Park across from the Plaza for dog 7. Some of Dave and Bo’s friends were here cheering them on. This would also be the cart where Matt6 finished the last true hot dog, therefore Tony had to eat a ‘spicy’ sausage! Props and dedication! Luckily they had restocked the cart before Neal and Dave made it to him.

By now everyone was in pretty rough shape. If the wall in a Marathon is the 18 mile mark, then dog 7 represents the wall in the Hot Dog Challenge. Bo was on the home stretch up 5th Avenue with 3 carts to go.

The ‘Zoopocalypse’ cart was at 67th street right by, you guessed it, the Zoo. Luckily, or not so lucky, the cart at 72nd Street was missing so they competitors had to run 67th Street all the way to 79th for the 9th dog. Bo set off at a pretty good pace with Matt6 off in the distance.

The tourist crowds were thick by now and it was getting difficult navigating through the streets. At the 79th Street cart Bo seemed to be in good shape for one last dog. By now we could just barely make out Matt6 about 5 blocks to the South and gaining. I really wanted a photo finish, but Bo had his mind set on a win.

I waited for Matt6 as Bo took off to the last cart to see how he was doing then sprinted on to the Met.

Bo finished his 10th dog in 3.1 miles for the win! Matt6 was just a few minutes behind him, followed by Tony (and his ref Steph) who chose to get a chili cheese dog for his final!

Soon Dave arrived followed by Neal. They had Rachel and Elizabeth reffing and guiding them. Reffing is a very respected job in the Hot Dog Challenge as competitors get pretty out of sorts towards the end and need guidance and support.

We all made our way over to Jack Russell’s for the after party and awards ceremony. Bo, the 2013 champ, went home with $350 in cold hard earned cash!

Congrats to everyone who came out! It’s not an easy race by any means, so just getting to the Start is bold. Thanks to all our volunteers who helped along the way too!

Tag Archives: New York Hot Dog Challenge

The 2014 New York City Hot Dog Challenge

The 2013 New York Hot Dog Challenge