World Pie Eating Championship

The annual World Pie Eating Championship is usually held at Harry's Bar on Wallgate, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The competition has been held since 1992. In 2006, a vegetarian version was added [1] after "relentless pressure" from Keith Lorraine and Phil English of the Vegetarian Society.[2]

In the 2006 competition, the meat and potato pies were all 12 cm (5 in) in diameter with a depth of 3.5 cm (1.5 in). In the separate vegetarian contest, the pies were 10 cm (4 in) by 3 cm (1.2 in).[3]

In the 2007 competition, entries included a competitor's dog, Charlie, who had eaten 20 pies and damaged a further 10 the night before the competition, nearly jeopardising the event.[2]

Winners

1992

Dave Smyth, a painter from Hindley, won the inaugural contest in 1992 when he ate four pies in three minutes.

1995

Dave Williams of Preston, Lancashire.

1998

Scott Ormrod of Aspull, Wigan, Greater Manchester. 11 pies in 30 mins

2005

Anthony "The Anaconda" Danson, a weight trainer from Lancashire, managed to eat seven pies in three minutes, setting a new record.[4]

2006

Matt Dunning (Australian rugby player).

2007

Adrian Frost (42) from Wigan who downed his pie in a record-breaking 35.86 seconds [5]

2008

Fred Wyatt, a 61-year-old warehouse packer won the 2008 Championship, which was broadcast live on the internet by pie-per-view.[6][7]

2009

Barry Rigby, a warehouseman won, eating a pie in 45 seconds.[8]

2010

Neil Collier, aged 42, won this contest with a new World Record of 23.91 seconds.[9]

2012

Martin Clare won.[10]

2014

Former champion Barry Rigby once again recorded the best time, but the results were declared void due to the delivered pies being of an incorrect size.[11]

Controversy

Imported pies

Controversy was caused in 2005 when pies were imported from nearby Farnworth, Bolton and local Wigan pies were sidelined as it was believed they were sub-standard, resulting in a four-man strong protest.[12] A similar situation arose in 2009, with pies being sourced from Adlington.[8]

Quantity to speed

More controversy was caused in 2006 when the competition was changed (to meet government healthy-eating guidelines) from the number of pies consumed in a given time, to the fastest time to consume a single pie. [13]

Lack of stock

Controversy struck again for the third year running when the competition actually ran out of pies before the competition had finished.

Wrongly sized pies

In 2014, pies of the wrong size were delivered to the event, while the intended pies were sent to a nearby divorce party. The contestants competed with halved pies, but the results were nullified.[11]

Background

Wiganers are proud to be called pie-eaters, but the nickname is not thought to be because of their appetite for the delicacy. The name is said to date from the 1926 General Strike when Wigan miners were starved back to work before their counterparts in surrounding towns and were forced to eat "humble pie".[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Pie-eating championship goes slimline". guardian.co.uk (London: Guardian News and Media). 23 November 2006.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Dog jeopardises pie championships". BBC News. 13 December 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rooth, Ben (22 November 2006). "Only one pie each at world title scoff". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media).
  4. ↑ Neil Tweedie (16 December 2005). "Pie championship is a piece of cake for The Anaconda". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "The pie's the limit for Adrian". wigantoday.net. 14 December 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  6. ↑ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9LGRWxYwbBezg_HsTfLcgfUsDgg
  7. ↑ http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/81424
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wainwright, Martin (15 December 2009). "World pie-eating contest leaves competitors choking". guardian.co.uk (London: Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  9. ↑ Wainwright, Martin (15 December 2010). "World pie-eating competition sets new record". theguardian.com (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Barry regains pie crown". Wigan Today. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "World Pie Eating Championships: Humble pie for Wigan chef after pie mix-up". BBC News. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Paul (16 December 2005). "I ate all the pies". The Guardian (London).
  13. ↑ "Health drive hitting pie eaters". BBC News. 23 November 2006.