Newport sandwich scoffer crowned champion
[gallery] It seemed like such a laugh at the start. But by the end of this monster challenge Nigel Tonge was looking a little the worse for wear.
Mr Tonge managed to devour a foot-long sandwich to be crowned the champion sandwich eater in Newport.
Mr Tonge was up against 10 mostly younger competitors, but the 51-year-old managed to polish off his turkey sub first to win the competition – even if it was something of an effort.
Despite looking more than full part way through the challenge, Mr Tonge, of Deer Park Drive, Newport, finished the sandwich in just three minutes and nine seconds, four seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.
He said: "It's years of practice. There were a couple of troughs in the middle, but I came through it and just never gave up."
The contest took place at Subway in High Street, Newport, yesterday lunchtime. And it was all in the name of charity.
Subway employee Chloe Trumper, 22, organised the event to raise money for Myeloma UK.
Her grandmother suffers with Myeloma, a cancer which affects the bone marrow.
Miss Trumper said: "I was really pleased with how it went. My friends, family and the regular customers have really supported me."
There was also a raffle with a host of prizes donated by Subway and businesses in Newport.
Some of the top prizes included golf lessons, teeth whitening, tattoo vouchers and champagne.
Miss Trumper said more than £100 had been raised in total.
And she said she knew family friend Mr Tonge would be crowned the champion sandwich eater.
"He's won his fair share of boat races in the past so as soon as I saw his name I knew what the outcome would be," Miss Trumper said.
While most of the foot-long sandwiches were polished off in under five minutes, some of the other competitors were still going past the 10- minute mark.
The belly-busting food competition is not the first in Shropshire, with one diner challenging customers to demolish a giant burger, containing a whopping 5,000 calories.
Oscar's in Telford claim there is no bigger burger in the country than the Titanic. On the menu for £15, competitors eating at the diner attached to the Odeon Cinema get just 45 minutes to wipe their plates clean. The calorie-laden feast between two burger buns, includes two 1lb beef patties, an 8oz chicken breast, six rashers of bacon, two potato waffles, four onion rings, lettuce, onion and pickles.
