This Halloween the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) were doling out some treats of their own, getting students to stuff their faces.
On Oct. 31, the SRC put on a pie eating competition in the cafeteria. The competition was run in a first come first serve format (literally) with three rounds open to anyone with an empty stomach and competitive spirit. With full frontal face-pie carnage and a veritable battle of the sexes: the pie eating contest was a spectacle that will not soon be forgotten.
Hosted by both SRC president, Brad Trecartin and vice president of student affairs, Ashley Macosky, the event began around 12 p.m. and even though the initial crowd was sparse, they had a full table for every round.
For the first three rounds of each competition, students had to eat one piece of pumpkin pie without any utensils and the first half of the competitors to finish would move on to the finals. In the finals, students had to devour a whole apple pie without the use of their hands and the first one to finish would be the winning contestant.
There was an equal split between the men and women the whole way through. This lent a bit of a men versus women vibe.
Student, Charlotte Livingstone says, “I was afraid that it would just be a bunch of guys, but once I got up there two other girls joined. I really wanted a girl to win.” When interviewed, many of the other female competitors shared similar aspirations. In contrast, the male competitors were much less gender specific. Student, Ben Churchill says, “My motivation is just to beat everyone else.”
When the competitors were asked what they thought were important skills in a pie eating contest they gave a wide variety of responses. “I think it would be important to have strong throat muscles. Less chewing, more swallowing,” says Macosky. Katherine Holloway, student, responded, “I think you need speed, you need to keep track of others and how well they’re doing and you need to have motivation.”
There were eight students in the finals but only one could walk away with a $150 UNB Bookstore gift certificate, and that student was Emily Langille. When asked what she planned to do with her winnings, she said that she would most likely be spending them on clipboards and sweaters.
This was not Langille’s first time eating competitively and she once won a Jell-O eating contest against her high school’s boys basketball team. Like Shakespeare said, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and others have greatness thrust upon them.” Like her fellow female competitors she says that her secret to success was just really wanting to beat the guys.
If you love to eat pie but missed the action, never fear. The SRC is rumored to have a succulent sequel in the works for the holiday season; so start training now and you could be walking away with some serious swag for the winter break.
