Interview: Bodybuilder who beat 50-year-old Seattle steak eating challenge

Dozens have tried, but until last week no one could
conquer one of the biggest eating challenges in town: The
72-ounce-steak at Seattle’s Wedgewood Broiler.

As if that wasn’t enough, the challenge required
professional bodybuilder and competitive eater Randy
Santel to scarf down the massive side of beef, along with
a 1 lb. baked potato, roll, side salad, cup of soup, a
glass of milk, glass of tomato juice then a bowl of ice
cream.

Santel told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Dori Monson Show he travels the country in search of
eating challenges, and defeating the Wedgewood Broiler was
#98 on his ongoing score sheet.

It took him just under 42 minutes, but he says he hoped to
do it a lot faster except the steak was cooked too much so
it took him longer to get through it.

For his troubles, he got back his $75 deposit, the first
guy to ever do so at the long time Northeast Seattle
eatery.

It was only one in a number of conquests while Santel
was in the Seattle area. His prodigious consumption also
included a 6-pound bacon burger with grilled cheese
sandwiches for a bun in SeaTac, a 1-pound doughnut in
Auburn, a 2-foot long chili-cheese hot dog with jalepenos,
onions and a side of fries in the University District, a
3-liter ramen bowl in Bellevue, a 12-patty, 3-pound
cheeseburger at Seattle’s Burger Madness, and a six-pound
burrito at Masa in Tacoma.

You have to wonder how he keeps it all down, or if he even
tries, but according to Santel, “I always eat everything, I
always keep it down. I just have to work out extra hard to
get rid of it.”

Josh Kerns/My Northwest.com