# Joey Chestnut not competing at 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 11, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753 "2024-06-11T20:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/121 "2024-09-03T16:46:25Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Then you understand why I think their accomplishments are much more impressive than someone guy who can shove a crap ton of hot dogs into his stomach in five minutes. > > I can certainly see a case for running being a more laudable pursuit (mostly on account of, you know, not being grossly cynical), but what is the meaning of ‘more impressive’ here? Both carry an ordinary human pursuit to ridiculous extremes; indeed, it’s not even clear to me whether it is harder to be a top-level runner than a top-level eater, nor, if it is, why that should be grounds for a higher valuation. Even if we accept it as just a quirk of human nature, of perhaps some evolutionary origin, that we just value being better at things than others, even if there is no immediate benefit gained from that, why is one way of being better better than another (morality aside)? I take your point, though I think when I wrote “more impressive”, the “to me” was implied. However, I posit that there’s one objective measure whereby the two feats can be compared: however much Joey Chestnut is pushing his physical limits in competitive eating, he’s only doing so for ten minutes. Courtney set her Western States record by finishing in 15:29:34. Put another way, that’s 929 minutes, or 92.9 times longer than Chestnut. I think that goes a long way to support the assertation that ultrarunning is more challenging than competitive eating. I concede, though, that a hot dog-eating contest is more telegenic than a hundred-mile mountain race. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/122 "2024-09-03T17:24:26Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > However, I posit that there’s one objective measure whereby the two feats can be compared: however much Joey Chestnut is pushing his physical limits in competitive eating, he’s only doing so for ten minutes. Courtney set her Western States record by finishing in 15:29:34. 15 hour competitive eating contests could be held also. Lot’s of events test the limits of human ability in much less time than 10 minutes. There are much longer races than a 100 yard dash or 100 meter sprint, that get measured in seconds but sometimes short term exertion is important also. All the individual field events are brief, high jumps, long jumps, and pole vaults only take moments, as do hammer, javelin, and shot put events. There could be an eating decathlon that could cover consumption of a number of foods over different lengths of time. Reaching the limits of human physical ability is always impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/123 "2024-09-03T17:41:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > However, I posit that there’s one objective measure whereby the two feats can be compared: however much Joey Chestnut is pushing his physical limits in competitive eating, he’s only doing so for ten minutes. Courtney set her Western States record by finishing in 15:29:34. Put another way, that’s 929 minutes, or 92.9 times longer than Chestnut. I think that goes a long way to support the assertation that ultrarunning is more challenging than competitive eating. And yet, the goal in these contests is to minimize their duration, and typically, a shorter duration makes the feat more impressive rather than less. So I’m not sure duration is a great marker of impressiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/124 "2024-09-04T00:56:42Z")
You’re kinda double counting duration. An ultra-marathon, plus they did it for so long! Well, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/125 "2024-09-04T01:27:07Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > You’re kinda double counting duration. An ultra-marathon, plus they did it for so long! Well, yeah Yes, because that’s my point; the goal of the sport - to eat the most hot dogs in ten minutes, or to run 100+ miles in the least time - is irrelevant to this.My assertion is that, however physically demanding eating 83 hot dogs in ten minutes is, and I don’t deny that it is, I doubt I could eat that many in a whole day, nevertheless he’s only pushing himself for that ten minutes. Katie Schide pushed her limits for 22 hours last weekend, when she set the new women’s record at the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc. I don’t know if anyone’s ever measured the number of calories Chestnut burns doing an eating contest, but but it would be an interesting comparison to put it up to the number Jim Walmsley burns during a race. To @TriPolar’s comment comparing the two sports is like comparing a marathon to a 100-meter dash, that’s a fair point. Again, though, you could judge by looking at the calories burned by Chestnut vs. those burned by Noah Lyles when he won the 100m last month in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/126 "2024-09-04T01:32:22Z")
I don’t find duration a convincing argument. What is the Olympic record for weightlifting? How long did that take? Every time I’ve seen footage of an Olympic weightlifter winning a medal, it takes less than thirty seconds for them to grab the weight, pick it up, lift it, and put it back on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/127 "2024-09-04T01:35:33Z")
I don’t think you get to say “look at this long thing she did, and also she did it for so long!” Double counting. Also, duration, meh. Usain Bolt is one of the most impressive athletes of all time and he’s done in 10s. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/128 "2024-09-04T01:38:35Z")
I hit the “Reply” button too soon - I added more to my post after you’d already responded. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/129 "2024-09-04T01:49:03Z")
Ultramarathoning isn’t impressive because it takes a long time. It’s impressive because its practitioners are pushing the limits of human physical performance so the very edge. Just like strongmen and swimmers and gymnasts and, yes, eaters. Some really weird gatekeeping going on here. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/130 "2024-09-06T13:17:53Z")
I recognize that my posts in this thread sound like “It doesn’t interest me, therefore it’s stupid”, but that’s not what I’m trying to say at all; rather, I’m attempting to show why I find ultrarunning – or running a 3:43:13 mile, or clearing a 6.26 meter pole vault – more impressive, and requiring more athletic ability, than eating 82 hot dogs in ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/131 "2024-09-06T21:29:21Z")
Saying that you find it more interesting and impressive is a totally valid opinion to have. In this particular case you sound like you’re trying to prove, using stuff like duration of the event or calories burned, to show that these sports are **objectively** more impressive than competitive eating. Which is of course impossible. Nothing can be objectively more impressive than anything else since impressiveness is itself inherently subjective. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753/132 "2024-09-06T21:31:02Z")
Obviously how fast something completes won’t impress _you_, **Slow Moving Vehicle**. 😜 But sure, competitive eating is less athletic, or let’s say a different kind of athleticism than, say, marathon running. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-chestnut-not-competing-at-2024-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest/1002753.md?page=6)