Eric “Badlands” Booker is exceptional at eating burritos.
In fact, he may be the best in the world. He holds the record for this particular act of gluttony, having once taken down 15 in an eight-minute span.
This Independence Day, he’ll get another shot, joining 15 competitive eaters on the stage for the opportunity to stuff their faces with as much meat and buns as possible. But unless something spectacular happens, this year’s competition will probably end like all the others.
“It may seem like an impossible dream,” Booker told The Huffington Post in an interview a few months ago, “but I really would like to win before I retire.”
Booker got into competitive eating basically on a lark. A native of New York City, where he still works as an MTA subway conductor, he was walking with his kids past the Nathan’s Famous in Oceanside, New York, in June 1997. Looking to play some video games and grab some grub, he stumbled upon a poster of Uncle Sam with a frank in his hand. “I want you to enter Nathan’s hot dog eating contest,” it read. Booker thought, basically, “Why the hell not?”
For the complete story, visit TheHuffingtonPost.com/News.
