CONEY ISLAND, New York (WWNY) – In Coney Island on 4th of July, thousands of people gather to spectate the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
This year, a Dexter man will be taking part. His name is Ronnie Hartman, known to many as Megabyte Ronnie.
“Before we go out there for a contest, I’m a little bit of a psycho, I like to listen to music and really amp myself up,” said Megabyte Ronnie.
Megabyte Ronnie’s top hot dog count is 29 and a half. So far, he has qualified for 6 contests.
“Like, I hate watching it on tv, like, I want to participate. There’s no better place to be in the world than Nathan’s Coney Island on the 4th of July,” said Megabyte Ronnie.
How does he prepare for the hot dog eating contest?
Ronnie says it’s all in stretching out the stomach. He does so by drinking a gallon of water with every meal and eating lots of fruits and vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.
“You have to have a capacity. Like, you have to be able to fit the food in there and then you have technique. Like, you have to be able to get the food down fast,” said Megabyte Ronnie.
Ronnie says his fascination for eating contests began in 2014 before he deployed to Afghanistan. It was always a bucket list item for him, and to this day he continues to push himself to hopefully one day place in this well known competition.
“I’m never going to stop trying to get on the top five. I still have that competitive edge and I still believe if I have my absolute best day and Joey Chestnut has his absolute worst day I could still win, if I didn’t believe that, I don’t think I’ll still be doing it,” said Megabyte Ronnie.
The men’s competition will kick off at noon on Tuesday.
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