She came, she saw, she conquered. Well almost.

The Start Up Engine table on 6 November saw 3 entrants to the renowned ‘Devastator Challenge’ at Red Dog Saloon (Hoxton Square) – two of them willing and then me. I boldly laid out the gauntlet that “I’d definitely take on the Hot Wings Challenge” (6 hot wings in the hottest of hot naja chilli sauce) if they took on the ‘Devastator Challenge’. After trying a tiny dot of sauce on my little finger from our table neighbour and crying for around 5 minutes I realised that taking this on was not an option (weak? No! They issue you with rubber gloves to hold the wings!). Clearly there was no way out, I was then compelled to take on the only other available challenge…

So that was it, I was presented with a tower of 3 burgers, 3 breads plus pulled pork in each layer plus bacon – oh plus chips, a side of coleslaw and about a litre of milkshake which was practically solid ice cream. They started the timer and we had 10 minutes.

The time flew by. I looked at my comrades with 2 minutes to go, I was around 10% of the way there, Joe to my left was around 75% of the way there and Tom was tipping his milkshake onto his chips to kill two birds with one stone. It got messy. Very messy. Tom made it in 9.59 minutes and Joe just missed out (he left himself with just burger to eat and it beat him). I was up to around 13% of the way through when time was up. Oh, and Tom’s prize, well a free tee-shirt – you still have to pay for your dinner (clever, clever Red Dog Saloon, silly silly diners).

It was however rather delicious so I carried on eating. An hour in, I decided that it was important that I also won a tee-shirt and that this was a case when sexism should prevail. I brokered a deal that I would still qualify as a winner if I finished every last bite on my own, basically because girls never do (nor attempt to). So on I plodded.

The table was very supportive; happy to order more beers and advising me that slow and steady was the best strategy. The last 10% was the hardest. I resorted to cutting the food up into small chunks (like a child would) to make it ‘look’ like there was less to eat and successfully fooled myself. There was a dark 2 minutes when I questioned whether I could do it, but with such great support from my fellow diners and strong will, I completed it in about an hour and a half. I received my tee-shirt (a larger size that I needed pre dinner) and my photo now sits proudly on the Devastator Challenge wall of fame.

I walked home doubled over in pain and felt rotten for about 2 days. Not sure why I did it really….

So, if that has inspired you or made you think it is totally pointless and gluttonous, come and try it for yourself, or scorn at others that are, on 26 November 2012. And look for me on the wall of fame!

One last fact for you, at the time of writing, the fastest time on the wall of fame was 4.48 minutes. Unbelievable (and no, it wasn’t Man V Foods’ Adam Richman!).

Good luck!