Beneath a large white tent in the parking lot of Sam’s Club at Park Meadows, Marco “Mongo” Marquez psyched himself up to “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne, preparing for the biggest 10 minutes of his life.
“Never in the history of this parking lot have I seen such athletic greatness,” said master of ceremonies Ryan Nerz, author of “Eat This Book.”
It is a stunning but true fact that no Coloradan had ever before qualified for Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 at Coney Island, or, as Marquez calls it, “the Super Bowl of competitive eating.” The qualifier at Sam’s Club gave the 29-year-old Englewood resident a chance to change all that.
“Looking at the lineup, I’m not going to make any assumptions, but I’ve eaten against all these guys before and none of them have ever beaten me before,” he said beforehand. “So it’s looking promising, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Decked out in seersucker suit and straw hat, Nerz played carnival barker. Victory at the qualifier would take “exquisite eso- phageal control,” he explained to the curious and famished who gathered beneath the tent to watch the bun detritus fly.
To Mongo’s right was Pretty Boy Pete Davekos, ranked 20th in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. A couple of minutes in, it became clear these were the gurgitators to watch.
As Mongo dunked his dogs and buns in red-tinted water and shoved them between bulging cheeks, his entire body shook, up and down and side to side, as if accepting a steady stream of electric current.
“It’s called the Kobayashi shake because it actually compacts the food down in your stomach so you can make room for more,” he explained afterward.
Takeru Kobayashi, of course, won six straight Nathan’s titles before being dethroned by Joey Chestnut two years ago, 66-63. In fact, these two epicuriators were downing so many dogs that major-league eating shortened the contest from 12 minutes to 10 for health reasons.
As the Mongo-Pretty Boy duel came down to the wire, soggy bits of hot dog and bun flew from their tired, chomping jaws onto their faces and shirts. Chants of “Mongo! Mongo!” reverberated under the tent.
“These guys are not known for their table manners, ladies and gentlemen,” Nerz noted. “If ever there was a moment for some paper towels, now would be that moment.”
When it was over, the judges took a few minutes to count empty paper plates and reconcile their totals. In the end, they said Pretty Boy had consumed 29 dogs and buns, a personal best.
Mongo had 30. “I’m going to Disneyland,” he said.
No, seriously, he had tickets for a Disneyland vacation the next day, but it had nothing to do with the qualifier.
“It went down all the way to the end,” Mongo said in the traditional post-gluttony analysis. “We were going dog for dog for a while. I was able to stay one dog ahead of him most of the time, but there were a couple of times we were tied. When time expired, I jammed that last hot dog in my mouth and that’s what won it.”
Afterward, he stood there holding his stomach.
“Yeah, it was pretty painful,” he said. “I had this really, really sharp pain in my stomach. I’ve never eaten that much before. It’s not just eating 30 hot dogs. You’re taking all that water consumption as well.”
Next up, Coney Island on the Fourth. Live on ESPN.
He doesn’t expect to beat Chestnut or the great Kobayashi. He’d be happy with a top-eight finish.
“I actually went on YouTube the other day and watched a couple of the old broadcasts,” he said. “It’s amazing, man. They do it just like a sporting event. I’m really, really excited about it. It’s something I’ve been working toward for a few years now.”
At last, Colorado’s long competitive eating famine is over. In his recent book, “The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live,” Robert Tuchman included Nathan’s Famous. Below the Masters, major-league eating noted, but ahead of the Australian Open.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297 or dkrieger@denverpost.com
