Randy Santel: Competitive food slayer
By EG Manilag, Staff Writer
Man! First off, you’ve got to watch Randy Santel’s videos to see for yourself how beastly this guy can eat. From tackling insanely large sandwiches to inhaling extra-large bowls of ramen, professional competitive eater Randy Santel is making himself a name on social media.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Santel was a kid who weighed around 346lbs, which was his heaviest weight ever. From high school to college, he would use his weight as a power advantage when playing football. But after his football career, he decided to lose some weight and get ripped.
In 2010, Santel challenged himself to compete in the worldwide Men’s Health/Spartacus Transformation Challenge. The challenge was to see who could undergo the best gladiator body transformation within only 12 weeks. With a very strict diet and a brutally intense workout, Santel achieved the gladiator bod and won the challenge. Moreover, he was given the privilege to appear on the 2010 hit TV series Spartacus.
According to his website, exactly one week later after the bodybuilding competition, he began his very first food challenge in his hometown in Missouri at Pointer’s Pizza with his buddy Dan Graham. The challenge was a whopping 28 inch Pointersaurus Pizza, which they easily slaughtered. They got the meal for free, plus a sweet $500 prize. Little did he know, this was the start of his food slaying journey.
Shirts, walls of fame, popularity, praises, free meals, and not to mention cash—these are the things he always gets during his food wins at restaurants across the globe. With the help of his social media accounts, Santel can share his glorious and delicious victories with the world.
One of his famous challenges won was his take down of the undefeated 70-ounce English Steak Challenge at Jacks American Bar & Grill in Oldham, England. The challenge was to be finished within an hour—which everyone who had tried up to that point could not breakthrough. Santel completely destroyed it within 41 minutes. His sweet victory was then posted to YouTube, which has gained 4.3 million views.
Another challenge he easily dominated was the gargantuan Filthy Mill burger challenge at The Mill Restaurant & Sports Bar in Milton, Washington. The competitive food slayer wiped out the giant burger in just 6 minutes and 27 seconds, beating the previous record of 18 minutes and 25 seconds. Two hours after the challenge, he ordered another burger. His stomach is like a vacuum… a very hungry vacuum.
What really intrigues me the most about him is his ability to hold a conversation, give courtesy to the restaurant workers, and compliment the food in between the game, while still breaking records. Insane. Now fast forward to 2019, almost 10 years of food slaying, Randy Santel is currently and insanely holding 784 food challenges wins—a record no one has—and he’s definitely not stopping anytime soon.
