World Pie Eating Championship

The annual World Pie Eating Championship is usually held at Harry's Bar on Wallgate, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The competition has been held since 1992. In November 2006, a vegetarian version was added[1] after "relentless pressure", from The Vegetarian Society's Keith Lorraine and Phil English.[2]

In December 2006, in the competition, the meat and potato pies were all 12 cm (5 in) in diameter with a depth of 3.5 cm (1.5 in). In the separate vegetarian contest, the pies were 10 cm (4 in) by 3 cm (1.2 in).[3] In December 2007, in the competition, entries included a competitor's dog, Charlie, who had eaten twenty pies and damaged a further ten the night before the competition, nearly jeopardising the event.[2]

Winners

1992

Dave Smyth, a painter from Hindley, won the inaugural contest in 1992, when he ate four pies in three minutes.

1995

Dave Williams of Preston, Lancashire.

1998

Scott Ormrod of Aspull, Wigan, Greater Manchester, eleven pies in thirty minutes.

2005

Anthony "The Anaconda" Danson, a weight trainer from Lancashire, managed to eat seven pies in three minutes, setting a new record.[4]

2006

Matt Dunning (Australian Rugby Union).

2007

Adrian Frost (42) from Wigan who downed his pie in an record breaking 35.86 seconds [5]

2008

Fred Wyatt, a sixty one year old warehouse packer won the 2008 Championship, which was broadcast live on the internet by pie per view.[6][7]

2009

Barry Rigby, a warehouseman won, eating a pie in forty five seconds.[8]

2010

Neil Collier, aged 42, won this contest, with a new World Record of 23.91 seconds.[9]

2011

James Robinson, aged just 24, won, with a time of 23.49 seconds. He retired from the competition following this to focus on taking up the trade professionally.

2012

Martin Clare won, with a new record time of 22.53 secs.[10]

2013

Ian Coulton of Wigan took the title, albeit with the slowest winning time ever.

2014

Former champion Barry Rigby once again recorded the best time.[11]

2015

2012 champ Martin Appleton Clare regains his title after missing 2013 and the "wrong size pie" incident of 2014.

2016

The reigning champion, Martin Appleton-Clare registered a record breaking third win to take the 2016 Championship.[12]

2017

It is the third time in a row for Martin Appleton-Clare.

2018

Martin Appleton-Clare won the new category of "Chicken and Carrot" with a time of 19.6 secs after a fierce Pie Off

Controversy

Imported pies

In December 2005, controversy was caused, when pies were imported from nearby Farnworth, Bolton, and local Wigan pies were sidelined as it was believed they were substandard, resulting in a four-man strong protest, which included Lee Hartney of The Smith Street Band.[13] In December 2009, a similar situation arose, with pies being sourced from Adlington.[8]

Quantity to speed

In November 2006, more controversy was caused, when the competition was changed (to meet government healthy eating guidelines) from the number of pies consumed in a given time, to the fastest time to consume a single pie.[14]

Lack of stock

In December 2007, controversy struck again for the third year running, when the competition actually ran out of pies before the competition had finished.

Wrongly sized pies

In December 2014, pies of the wrong size were delivered to the event, while the intended pies were sent to a nearby divorce party. The contestants competed with halved pies, but the results were nullified.[11] The head of the World Pie Eating Championship went to court on the television show Judge Rinder because of this, against the pie maker of the wrongly sized pies, but was awarded nothing.[15]

Background

Wiganers are proud to be called pie eaters, but the nickname is not thought to be because of their appetite for the delicacy. The name is said to date from the 1926 General Strike, when Wigan miners were starved back to work, before their counterparts in surrounding towns and were forced to eat "humble pie".[3]

References
  1. "Pie-eating championship goes slimline". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media. 23 November 2006.
  2. "Dog jeopardises pie championships". BBC News. 13 December 2007.
  3. Rooth, Ben (22 November 2006). "Only one pie each at world title scoff". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. Media.
  4. Neil Tweedie (16 December 2005). "Pie championship is a piece of cake for The Anaconda". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  5. "The pie's the limit for Adrian". wigantoday.net. 14 December 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  7. "World Pie Eating contest at Wigan pub". Morningadvertiser.co.uk. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2015-10-14.
  8. Wainwright, Martin (15 December 2009). "World pie-eating contest leaves competitors choking". guardian.co.uk. London: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  9. Wainwright, Martin (15 December 2010). "World pie-eating competition sets new record". theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  10. "Barry regains pie crown". Wigan Today. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  11. "World Pie Eating Championships: Humble pie for Wigan chef after pie mix-up". BBC News. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  12. Emily Heward (2016-12-20). "Watch: World pie-eating champion's 'Usain Bolt' moment at Wigan competition". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  13. Lewis, Paul (16 December 2005). "I ate all the pies". The Guardian. London.
  14. "Health drive hitting pie eaters". BBC News. 23 November 2006.
  15. Armstrong, Jeremy. "Judge Rinder's latest case sees him rule on a disputed PIE-EATING competition". mirror. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
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