A competitive eater from Tucson set a Guinness World Record on Monday.
To beat the record, Michelle Lesco, 33, had to consume a 100-gram bowl of cooked pasta (with sauce) in less than 41 seconds.
The current record was set on July 13, 2013 by Peter Czerwinski, also known as "Furious Pete," according to the Guinness World Records website.
Lesco took her place behind a white cloth-lined table with a pitcher of water at Oregano's in Scottsdale, as a gaggle of media cameras and reporters looked on. To her side were two law enforcement officers acting as official witnesses, a man in referee gear holding a stopwatch, and two paramedics on hand for safety.
(The biggest medical concern was possible choking and medical staff had spoken with Lesco before the event.)
At the start, Lesco took her fork and began feeding the pile of pasta into her mouth.
A few more scoops, and a pesky noodle that kept sticking to the bowl, the 112-pound Tucson schoolteacher cleaned her plate at 26 seconds, beating the record with time to spare.
"It's not that much compared to some of the contests we do where you're eating 10 1/2 pounds of pie or 32 hot dogs," she said. "It's one bowl of pasta. It's not that big of a deal."
So, how do you prepare?
Lesco said she practiced eating a similar bowl of pasta a few days before the event.
"You have to [practice]," she told reporters immediately after the event. "It's technique at the end."
IS IT OFFICIAL?
While Lesco's time appears to have beaten the record, it has to be reviewed by the Guinness World Records' review team, a process that can take up to 12 weeks.
If approved, it is then certified as a new world record.
Official judges can be brought out to events, but there is a cost for that service.
The event also marked the start to Oregano's "Carbs for a Cause" event. For every pasta purchased between Sept. 18 and 22, three bowls will be donated to St. Mary's Food Bank. The goal is to donate 50,000 bowls of pasta.
