Porked Out
DARTMOUTH STUDENTS are known to be overachievers in all areas of life—for Bo Yanker '10, this extends to eating. Yanker is the proud record-holder of the Big FattyChallenge at a BBQ joint not far from campus: Eat a three-and-a-half-pound pulled-pork sandwich and a pound of fries within an hour, and the restaurant picks up your bill. Not only did Yanker meet the challenge—he did it in six minutes. A few weeks later the 6-foot-2-inch, 295-pounder returned to cut his time to five minutes. His goal is to finish in under four.
"I figured I could do the challenge easily in under an hour," says the bio major who played on the freshman football teams offensive line. "After four minutes I realized I was almost done, so I decided to go for the record."
"My understanding was that the staff watched in horror—not because we were going to lose but that someone was [shoving] down that much food that quickly," says Clay Vagnini, co-owner of Big Fatty's in Hartford, Vermont. "Only one out of 35 people
who try actually pull it off."
Yanker, who hails from Atlanta, says he "grew up eating barbeque." Pulled pork is one of his favorite foods, but he'll eat others: He set a record at his high school by eating 120 hot wings within two hours and once ate 25 soft tacos in under an hour. The Big Fatty Challenge was his first timed attempt.
Brandon Fox, Big Fatty's general manager, is impressed with the record, calling Yanker a "unique gentleman." Yanker, however, is more modest. "I'm proud, but it was nothing special," he says. "It came naturally."
DID YOU KNOW?
The bar has been raised by the class of 1958, which set new records for a 50th reunion class with a gift of $3.6 million and a whopping 97.5 percent participation rate.
