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JOHN PEMBERTON
JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-UnionAbove:
Carl Voss of Jacksonville Beach shows his admiration for eating competitor Sonya Thomas, also known as the Black Widow. Right: Bill Mercer raises a Hoover vacuum cleaner as he cheers for Hall Hunt, known as Hoover. The Jacksonville Landing stage was the scene of the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Contest qualifier on Monday. The Labor Day contest was held to pick a regional qualifier for the World Contest, to be held in Chattanooga, Tenn., and broadcast live on ESPN.
JOHN PEMBERTON
Photos by JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-UnionAnd the winner is ...
Sonya Thomas (left) and Hall Hunt shove Krystals down at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Contest at The Jacksonville Landing on Monday. Twelve people competed in the contest and 1,100 Krystal hamburgers were cooked fresh for the competition. Hunt became a regional qualifier and will go to Chattanooga, Tenn., soon for the world competition.
JOHN PEMBERTON
Photos by JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-UnionAnd the winner is ...
Sonya Thomas (left) and Hall Hunt shove Krystals down at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Contest at The Jacksonville Landing on Monday. Twelve people competed in the contest and 1,100 Krystal hamburgers were cooked fresh for the competition. Hunt became a regional qualifier and will go to Chattanooga, Tenn., soon for the world competition.
JOHN PEMBERTON
JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-UnionAbove:
Carl Voss of Jacksonville Beach shows his admiration for eating competitor Sonya Thomas, also known as the Black Widow. Right: Bill Mercer raises a Hoover vacuum cleaner as he cheers for Hall Hunt, known as Hoover. The Jacksonville Landing stage was the scene of the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Contest qualifier on Monday. The Labor Day contest was held to pick a regional qualifier for the World Contest, to be held in Chattanooga, Tenn., and broadcast live on ESPN.
JOHN PEMBERTON
Photos by JOHN PEMBERTON/The Times-UnionHall Hunt is congratulated by his competitors, including Sonya Thomas (right) and the crowd at The Jacksonville Landing on Monday. Hunt ate 60 Krystal burgers to win. He is ranked eighth in the world of competitive eating; Thomas is ranked sixth.
Last modified 9/1/2008 - 11:42 pm
Originally created 090208
Hall "Hoover" Hunt gobbles up 60 Krystals in eight minutes
By Paul Pinkham, The Times-Union
The most Krystal hamburgers that University of North Florida nursing student Farrell Hoffman had ever eaten in one sitting was two.
That's it.
But Monday, the Davie 19-year-old found herself on stage at the Jacksonville Landing with two of competitive eating's superstars, squaring off to swallow as many Krystals as possible in eight minutes.
"I'm freaking out," she said before the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship Jacksonville Qualifier event.
Hoffman didn't come close to matching the 60 square burgers scarfed down by Jacksonville's own Hall "Hoover" Hunt, 26. The new Jacksonville record will send Hunt, by day a structural engineer at The Haskell Co., to the championship Sept. 28 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"I never get full. I'm not full now," Hunt said after his head-to-head victory over Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, ranked sixth in the world. Hunt is ranked eighth.
A large crowd, including one man who held up a Hoover vacuum cleaner and four women who spelled out Hunt's name in body paint, cheered for the hometown favorite. Rebecca Bowling, the 'N' in Hunt, said they hope to follow him to Chattanooga. There he will face Krystal Square Off IV champion Joey Chestnut, who downed 102 burgers last year, and Japanese eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, who has eaten 95.
Thomas, who has gobbled as many as 62 Krystals in competition, fell behind early and never could catch Hunt. But she had her supporters, too, including Jacksonville Beach law student Carl Voss, who held up a sign reading "Marry Me Sonya."
"What kind of man doesn't love a girl who can eat 65 hard-boiled eggs?" asked Voss, who's followed Thomas' career since 2003.
Voss's sign got him selected as one of five amateurs brought on stage to compete. One, 20-year-old Richard Guadagnolo of Margate, came in third after finishing off 15 Krystals.
As for Hoffman, she ate five, more than doubling her personal best.
paul.pinkham@jacksonville. com,(904) 359-4107
"What kind of man doesn't love a girl who can eat 65 hard-boiled eggs?"
CARL VOSS
Jacksonville Beach law student who has been following Sonya Thomas' eating exploits
