Contestants eat till they’re blue in the face

Warren mayor loses out to out-of-town professional

By BILL RODGERS / Tribune Chronicle
WARREN — Some participants at Friday’s Relay for Life were gluttons for punishment. Or at least for blueberry pie.

A record 1,400 cancer survivors began the Relay, taking the first lap around the city’s Courthouse Square. The goal of the 24-hour relay, which continues until 6 p.m. today, is to raise $500,000 for American Cancer Society.

Last year, a then-record 1,300 survivors took the first lap.

‘‘It’s great! I think more people are surviving thanks to the funds we’re raising and the resources we have,’’ city Relay co-chair Donna Shaw said.

But, for some, the main event took place on two picnic tables just after sundown. Bakers from the Blue Iris Cafe in Warren lined the tables with 75 blueberry pies, each weighing about 20 ounces.

It was time for the first Karen Yohman Memorial Blueberry Pie Eating Contest.

Whoever ate the most pie got bragging rights and a 2 1/2-foot-tall trophy. There was a children’s competition followed by a baker’s dozen of adult competitors.

But to many spectators, the main event was between two men:

At one picnic table, weighing in at 179 pounds and standing 5 foot 10 — Warren’s Mayor Michael J. O’Brien.

At the opposing picnic table, at an even 400 pounds and standing 5-foot-9 — Tim ‘‘Tiny Tim’’ Rauscheder of Cleveland.

Rauscheder, a 30-year-old eating machine is ranked 17th in the nation, according to the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters. Rauscheder has eaten ice cream, chicken wings, chili and pirogis — about 49 in five minutes — all for sport.

Tiny Tim, lumbering into the Relay like a sweet-toothed Apollo Creed, said in his booming voice that pies would be a new experience for him, but that he would win.

‘‘I don’t like politicians, so I’ll beat him,’’ he said.

The rules: eat as many pies as you can in eight minutes.

Tiny Tim, at the far end of the competition, grabbed fistfulls of the gooey stuff and shoved it into his face. It was a brutal effort, but wasn’t without its grace as the pro sponged up the last few drops of filling in each pie tin with a piece of crust.

O’Brien nearly kept pace. Tiny Tim set one pie tin down. A minute later, Blue Iris co-owner Melissa Yohman Murphy announced that the mayor had just finished off one pie of his own.

And again at two pies.

But the competition ended with Tiny Tim about halfway into his third pie.

Tiny Tim and O’Brien took first and second place in the eating contest, respectively.

At the end of the contest, people circled Courthouse Square before the infinitely more-solemn luminary ceremony. Luminaries were lit in memory of loved ones who battled cancer.

And walkers continued lapping Courthouse Square to raise money for the real competition, the battle against cancer.



brodgers@tribune-chronicle.com