Before you eat on Thursday, ask yourself: How long might it take me to eat a 10lb turkey by myself? How many dinner rolls can I eat in one minute? How much green bean casserole can I eat until I explode?
With Thanksgiving happening this week—the most food oriented holiday of the year—we share an interview with Ohio food-eating challenge champion Jack Legath.
The fitness guru and certified Personal Trainer from Mentor, Ohio (near Cleveland) is a senior at Bowling Green State University majoring in Exercise Science and he has competed in more than 60 food challenges since last year, setting records throughout Ohio and surrounding states.
In this interview with OOTB, Legath discusses his food challenge highlights, contest practice and prep, family and friends’ support, hobbies, post-college plans and more.
When and where was the first eating event and what was the food(s) involved?
My first ever eating event was a food challenge that I attempted and accomplished in the summer of July 2023. The challenge was in Chesterland, Ohio at a restaurant called Rise and Dine Cafe.
It consisted of a 14-egg omelet stuffed to the brim with bacon, sausage, ham, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers, 4 different cheeses (American, cheddar, Swiss, and provolone), AND a hefty side of potatoes. The omlette itself weighed one pound and it was accompanied by four pieces of toast.
You had 30 minutes to finish and if completed you receive the meal for free, a T-shirt, and an ego boost! I completed it in just under 19 minutes my first time around.
How do you prepare or train for each event and increase your endurance, without revealing too many secrets?
It honestly depends on the event. If it is a food I do not eat on a regular basis, I’ll eat it days before the contest to figure out a strategy. Along with this, I usually eat a very large meal 24 hours beforehand with a ton of liquid to expand the stomach. After that, I won’t eat until the day except for a small bowl of cereal. I will continue to drink as much liquid as possible until about 3 hours before hand. Other than that, I really do not do much. I just love great tasting food.
What are a few of your quickest and most eaten personal records?
I would say some of my best personal records vary! I am most proud of:
• 114 glazed donut holes in 4 minutes
• 14lb+ deep dish pizza that broke the original scale in 34 minutes
• 29-inch pizza in under 9 minutes
• Currently 60+ food challenges accomplished with countless records set at different restaurants!
Have you competed nationally? If so, what events and what was the outcome?
I do not travel nationally, but I try to stay within a few hours driving distance. I have competed at:
• Jeff’s Donut contest in Louisville, Kentucky which is where I accomplished 114 donut holes
• Zelienople Horse Trading Days at a restaurant called ShuBrew located in Zelienople, PA. This was a hotdog eating contest for 10 minutes against some of the best ranked eaters in the entire world. I placed third with 28 hot dogs, but for being my first ever truly competitive event against professionals, I am happy with my performance, especially since I was just getting introduced to competitions!
• Toarmina, a chain pizza restaurant in southern Michigan hosted a pizza eating contest which was a grand prize of $1024 for whoever could finish their signature 24-inch pizza the fastest. I won this event with a time ranging from around 14 minutes.
I have done other smaller contests throughout Ohio, but those were the largest!
What do friends and family think of this? Are they supportive or concerned about your health?
My family and friends love this! My sister, mom, and dad were always supportive.
When I started, my mom was very nervous about the choking hazard of eating very quickly and the lack of chewing. She feels more comfortable the more I’ve done.
Everyone in my life really enjoys the competitions and challenges; they always ask for livestreams or videos before and after so they can watch.
If you are ever around my parents watching a video, I’ll apologize in advance because they tend to get very excited and sometimes scream on the phone. I have even had to ask my mom to not get so passionate at the in-person events because she was screaming at me to do certain things and “don’t forget about this.”
I love that my family, friends, and even my new supporters are able to show up and show support!
As for my sister, she was not a huge fan of watching because of the messy factor. She came to a contest in the past and let us just say she got hooked on the upbeat environment! She may not enjoy watching the challenges as much, but she is all in for fun and competition.
Truthfully, I love their constant support, and it makes these events more fun knowing how passionate they are about it. Sharing common interests is a nice conversation piece at the dinner table!
When talking about my health, there is no real concern. I weighed a max of 280lbs and played sports in high school. As I got out of the sport environment and focused more on my health, I lost over 100lbs and taught myself about fitness and nutrition. I monitored everything that went into my body and how it affected me.
They understand my in-depth knowledge and trust I will take care of my body as I did previously. They also see my exercise and food intake behind the scenes, so they understand how I can balance it all.
I do publicly post my running exercises for those who may be concerned with my health to show how I maintain good health on an app/website called Strava. This of course does not include the rest of the day's activities or food intake, but gives my family, friends, and all others a little inside look.
What do you do in your spare time as hobbies or interests?
In my spare time, I really am a pretty boring person due to college and working at our student recreation center. I like to stay busy and stay “productive.”
If I do have downtime outside of this, I am a fitness fanatic. I spend hours being active between running, resistance training, or just taking walks.
I love traveling and sightseeing which this new lifestyle has allowed me to do. Experiencing different environments or cultures is fun for me. I love trying different foods, competition or not.
As the winter weather approaches, I love to snowboard or spend time with my family whenever I get the chance.
What are your future short term and long-term goals, ambitions, plans? Including any National competitions or Local events.
My current goals are to graduate college at the end of this year with my bachelor's degree and pursue graduate school for Physical Therapy in the summer. With how strenuous schooling is, I really do not have any plans during that time.
As for long term goals, I plan to become a physical therapist, either traveling or working in a local clinic helping patients.
With the competitive eating aspect, I do not really have any short or long-term goals. This was never how I imagined a fun pastime would turn out.
I never planned to become a “professional,” but rather it was assigned onto me by others in the industry. I just plan to ride it out by seeing where it takes me. Once I stop having fun, I do not see a point in pursing but currently I am still having a blast!
Where can people follow you and see previous events?
People can follow me on all social media! The only one I have not started yet is a YouTube due to time involving school and work, but I plan to start that down the line.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Although I get to do some wild or amazing things depending on which side of the spectrum you view it, the reason I continue to “eat competitively” is because of the connections I get to create between businesses, the owners, other “eaters,” and the people that watch me.
So, I just want to say thank you to all those people that supported me through this journey as I would not be doing it without all those people. And thank you for giving me this opportunity!
Follow Jack
https://m.facebook.com/61558229024511/
https://www.tiktok.com/@jack.legath
https://www.instagram.com/jack.eatzz/
https://www.strava.com/athletes/129605396
Clippings
https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/
Nice intervuew now I’m hungry
ReplyDeleteThis would be a lot fun to do… All the food sounds do good!!! Hope you win more contests!
ReplyDeletefun read and good questions. I watch and was curious about those highlights too. Good luck jack
ReplyDeleteStill wanna know what your favorite food is or if it’s like Italian or Mexican or Chinese
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Jack. Good interview.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any sponsorships or brand endorsements?
ReplyDeleteFABULOUS READ! HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat pizza looks good. I like spicy food contests.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool guy. Hopefully will leave leftovers at thanksgiving 😂
ReplyDelete