Give 'Em Hell Harry

Florida’s Harry Richter has long been a fan of competitive eating. In recent years his wife has maintained a focus on family and profession while Harry has, at times, put both aside in favor of watching repeats of Gutbusters on Discovery and Nathan’s on ESPN.

So when Harry learned that the IFOCE’s Harvest Series had two scheduled stops in arm’s reach of Florida’s infamous I-4 corridor, he quickly signed up.

Approaching the 84 Lumber World Baked Bean Eating Championships in DeLand, Harry was seemingly unconcerned at the fact he’d be competing against big name eaters like LaRue, Janus and Reeves. He showed similar poise at the outset of the final Krystal qualifier where he stood aside such giants as Kobayashi and Booker.

Perhaps Harry was unworried because he knew something the eating community did not know: Harry’s got game.

So much game in fact that he place third in the 84 Lumber contest, edging out ranked competitors Reeves and Eater X. Two weeks later in Jacksonville, Harry delivered another third place performance – this time against the greatest eater in world history and a rap impresario who is ranked a very solid fourth.

At the conclusion of the Jacksonville event the cameras swarmed as Booker hugged Kobayashi. Harry exited stage right with a subtle grin exposing 32 white teeth that seemed to spell ‘I’ll be back fellas, I’ll be back.’