Once again I spent my 4th of July in Coney Island taking photos of people eating hot dogs. There is nothing more American than that! The Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest is now in its 98th year and for the 8th time in a row Joey “Jaws” Chestnut won. At 61 hot dogs he was nowhere near his record of 69 but it was enough to outlast Matt Stoney who had the lead midway through the 10 minutes of hot dog eating. Chestnut won another way too.. before the contest he proposed to his long time girlfriend and fellow eater Neslie Ricasa.

On the women’s side there was a big upset. Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas lost for the first time in the history of the women’s competition. She was beaten by Miki Sudo 34 to 28. Thomas holds the record at 45 but with a crazy storm going on it was apparently bad day for eating hot dogs. Sonya is from my hometown of Alexandria, VA so I have been a fan of hers for many years. I hope she can mount a comeback next year!

The storm was pretty insane and Coney Island was empty on what is normally one of the most packed days of the summer. I was pretty prepared for the weather but it still made my job a lot harder. At some point my lens got fogged up but I couldn’t tell because I was shooting through a plastic waterproof case and I thought it was just my screen that was fogged. Fortunately I shot several hundred photos so I think there is plenty of madness for you guys to look at!

After the contest I ran into my friend Olivia and we rode the ferris wheel in the rain which makes the second time in two weeks I have been on the Wonder Wheel. We also went to the beach which was hilarious to see people trying to vacation in the pouring rain. After leaving Olivia and a slightly too long nap I ended up at the  private hot dog eating after party where I didn’t take any photos but did have corn starch poured down my pants by one of the best eaters in the world. And that’s how I spent my 4th of July…

Now click here to see all my photos from the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island!

 

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