Oxford's Geoffrey Esper preparing for return to Nathan's hot dog eating contest
OXFORD – Geoffrey Esper has an appetite for competition.
The Oxford resident will be back on Coney Island for the 4th of July, looking to scarf down as many hot dogs and buns as possible during the annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest.
Last year, Esper ate 51 hot dogs to tie his personal best and take home second place overall. Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, the perennial favorite to run away with first place, is expected to do the same once again on Monday.
"I'm looking to try to get second place because I think Joey's got that first place down pretty good. I think second place pays $5,000 which would be a pretty good payday," Esper said.
In advance of the signature competition, Esper has been trying to get his routine down.
"You try to stimulate the contest the best you can. You cook up a bunch of hot dogs, you plate them up, you put 10 minutes on the clock and go at it. It's not that hard, actually," Esper said. "I do my practice sessions. I try to make a game plan. The day of the contest I like to stick to it. In the past I messed up a little bit and had better numbers in practice. I think that was because I tried to change my game plan last minute. I'm done with that. I'm going to try and stick to my game plan."
Esper said he got started in competitive eating like many others in the field. He began by participating in smaller events at bars, and worked his way up.
Esper said he has a very strict diet, eating more than most would care to in preparation for consuming 12,000-15,000 calories on the day of the competition.
"It's fun. Going to the actual contest, the 10 minutes or few minutes before, it's fun and exhilarating. I always liked competition," Esper said. "I used to do a lot of power lifting in my younger days. Because of injuries, I couldn't compete on that level anymore. I moved on to this and found out I was pretty good at this and I'm able to compete at a pretty high level. And it's fun for me."
