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Carmel mom qualifies for national hot dog eating contest for second time

41-year-old mom qualifies for national hot dog eating contest for second time

41-year-old mom qualifies for national hot dog eating contest for second time

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is just less than two weeks away and a local mom qualified for it for the second time. 

Holly Titus is headed to Coney Island on July 4 to see just how far she can go. 

“There’s nothing more American than gobbling down as many hot dogs as you can,” she said. 

It’s been a hobby for the 41-year-old mother for some time. She entered herself in the women’s division last year at a Cincinnati Reds game to see just how many hot dogs she could eat. 

Titus ate eight hot dogs in 10 minutes. Surprisingly, she won. This year, Titus went to St. Louis and won the women’s division again. This time she ate 13 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Titus doesn’t prepare for the contest, besides not eating anything the day before. She has a technique during the contest. Titus breaks each hot dog in half, dunks them in water and then eats them as fast as she can. 

“If you eat so much food, your body should give you a signal and your brain tells you that you’re full,” Titus said. “So when you’re eating really fast for 10 minutes and your brain says you’re done, you kind of have to work past that. So, I don’t know if it’s gross or amazing what the human body can do.”

Titus isn’t worried about others judging her secret talent. 

“We’ve all got weird things about us, right?” Titus said. “It’s nice to be able to do something that’s kind of competitive and fun.”