{"id":1581,"date":"2014-07-12T09:49:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-12T09:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/?p=1581"},"modified":"2017-06-12T09:50:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T09:50:31","slug":"new-years-resolution-update-i-came-i-ate-i-saw-frogs-jumping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/new-years-resolution-update-i-came-i-ate-i-saw-frogs-jumping\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW YEAR\u2019S RESOLUTION UPDATE: I CAME, I ATE, I SAW FROGS JUMPING"},"content":{"rendered":"

Six months ago, as has become my annual tradition, I made a New Year\u2019s resolution to tackle something on my watermelon bucket list. This year\u2019s goal: to compete in a watermelon-eating contest. The 26-week process of completing this resolution has been fun, to say the least \u2013 from choosing a contest<\/a> to compete in, to interviewing a professional competitive eater<\/a>, to practicing at home<\/a> in preparation for the big day.<\/p>\n

The watermelon-eating contest I took part in was an annual tradition at the Bel Air 4th<\/sup> of July Festival<\/a> <\/strong>in Bel Air, Maryland (about 90 minutes from where I live).<\/p>\n

We arrived at the festival (my wife, daughter and I) about an hour before the 11:30 a.m. eating contest, just in time to catch the end of \u201cThe Great Bel Air Frog Jumping Contest\u201d in Shamrock Park. True to its name, it featured frogs jumping, and it was probably the highlight of the day for our three-year-old. (The contest winner was a frog named Honey Boo Boo Child with a three-jump total of 102 inches!)<\/p>\n

But I wasn\u2019t there for the frog jumping contest in Shamrock Park; I was there for the watermelon-eating contest in Shamrock Park. After adding my name to the list of participants in the 17-and-older category, we took a stroll around the crowded and festive park to kill some time before my competitive eating showdown began.<\/p>\n

\"pic\"<\/p>\n

Alright, I\u2019m not going to bore you with a recap of my stroll around Shamrock Park \u2013 let\u2019s get right to the contest. Each competitor was given a nice-sized wedge of watermelon with simple instructions that the first person to finish (eat it down to the white rind and have an empty mouth) would be declared the winner. (Above is a photo of the 7-10 year old competitors proudly displaying their watermelon wedges before the contest.)<\/p>\n

After a countdown from 10 \u2013 which seemed like it took three full minutes \u2013 the eating had begun. About 17-and-older contestants were clustered together and the 20 of us created quite the symphony of chomping and slurping sounds. And almost as quickly as it had begun, the contest was over.<\/p>\n

A gentleman from Forest Hill, Maryland was declared the winner, and boy did he ever do a good job of eating that wedge right down to the rind. I\u2019m not 100 percent sure where I finished \u2013 probably fourth or fifth \u2013 which isn\u2019t too bad. I\u2019m happy with that performance. I had a lot of fun preparing for the contest and you can be sure that I\u2019ll be back again next year to take another shot at the watermelon-eating title!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six months ago, as has become my annual tradition, I made a New Year\u2019s resolution to tackle something on my watermelon bucket list. This year\u2019s goal: to compete in a watermelon-eating contest. The 26-week process of completing this resolution has been fun, to say the least \u2013 from choosing a contest to compete in, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[61,299,221,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-1581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-competitive-eating","9":"tag-eating-watermelon","10":"tag-new-years-resolution","11":"tag-watermelon-eating-contest","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nNEW YEAR\u2019S RESOLUTION UPDATE: I CAME, I ATE, I SAW FROGS JUMPING - What About Watermelon?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/new-years-resolution-update-i-came-i-ate-i-saw-frogs-jumping\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NEW YEAR\u2019S RESOLUTION UPDATE: I CAME, I ATE, I SAW FROGS JUMPING - What About Watermelon?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Six months ago, as has become my annual tradition, I made a New Year\u2019s resolution to tackle something on my watermelon bucket list. 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