Massachusetts

Mass. Man Finishes 2nd in Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest

Geoffrey Esper, 47, is a well-known competitive eater and has been nationally ranked by the Major League of Eating

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A man from Massachusetts is currently the second-best hot dog eater in the world.

Geoffrey Esper, a teacher from Oxford, placed second in Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Monday, devouring 47.5 hot dogs and buns in just 10 minutes.

His success in the world-famous competition in New York's Coney Island earned Esper $5,000.

"I feel fine," Esper told The Boston Herald four hours after consuming more than 12,500 calories. "I'm used to it. I've eaten hundreds of hot dogs in the last few weeks."

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Competitive eaters Nicholas Wehry (left), Joey Chestnut (center) and Geoffrey Esper (right) at the 2022 Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday, July 4, 2022.

Finishing second to world champion Joey Chestnut, Esper came 3.5 hot dogs and buns short of beating his personal record of 51 hot dogs and buns, according to the Herald.

Chestnut also failed to beat his own record, inhaling a total of 63 hot dogs and buns, 13 short of his 2021 record of 76 hot dogs and buns.

Esper said numbers may have been lower this year because the food sat outside in the sun for almost an hour before the competition began.

“I had a little bit of trouble with the buns being a bit stale in the sun, and the (hot dog) casing was tougher to eat," he told the Herald.

Hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut helped to subdue a protester that charged the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Competitors faced another obstacle: a group of animal rights protestors in "Star Wars" masks who rushed the stage during the contest. When one of the protestors bumped into Chestnut while he was eating his 18th hot dog bun, he put them in a headlock.

Esper, who eats with his eyes closed, didn't notice until Chestnut bumped into him.

“It threw me off for maybe half a minute, but it didn’t really affect my numbers too, too much,” he told the Herald.

Geoff Esper of Oxford, Massachusetts, placed fourth in this year’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Contest

Esper, 47, is a well-known competitive eater and has been nationally ranked by the Major League of Eating. In 2018, he won fourth place in Nathan's Contest, annihilating a total of 41 hot dogs.

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