Andrews revels in charity eating competition victory

Andrews revels in charity eating competition victory

9 December 2015

TERRY Andrews won the battle of the bellies during last Friday’s Subway eating challenge to raise funds for Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke.

The SDLP councillor put his money where his mouth is and backed up confident predictions he would win by seeing off the challenge of his political foe and good friend Billy Walker.

The councillors arrived at the Subway store in Ballynahinch to be greeted by a monster six foot long sub roll almost 10 inches wide, packed with turkey, ham, onions and tomatoes and spread across four tables. The stopwatch was set to 20 minutes to see who could eat the most in the allotted time.

In the end, Tarragon Terry was simply too hot for Burrito Billy and once the SDLP man got his nose in front, there was no way Billy could ‘ketchup’ despite ‘mustarding’ the strength to do so.

There are some unconfirmed reports that King Billy may have cheated and he is threatening to consult his lawyers if the rumours persist, while Terry is basking in the glory of winning the third of the charity challenges the duo have organised.

He relished the battle and is delighted he defeated his ‘butter’ half, with the SDLP man even having room for soup and mince pies when he attended the switching on of the Saintfield Christmas lights later in the evening.

Both politicians were confident of winning when they arrived for the eating challenge which was witnessed by many interested spectators, with both men fasting ahead of the main event.

Once the challenge got underway it was Andrews who moved ahead in the battle of the heavyweight politicians and there was simply no way back for Billy who was surprisingly floundering for a man known to be more than a little fond of his grub.

A beaming councillor Andrews said his “many years of training paid off” and that he was delighted to win what he described as a “particularly daunting challenge.”

He continued: “I was like a lion, pacing myself and going in for the kill. Billy had no chance and my roaring success shows I have the stomach for the fight. I even had time to goad Billy as we went along so confident was I of victory.

“The atmosphere in the Subway store was brilliant and when Billy conceded, he was told there was still a few minutes to go. While he tried to keep going, he was a beaten man.”

Councillor Andrews said while pleased with his win, he and Billy were delighted to help raise money for such a worthy cause.

For his part, councillor Walker graciously admitted he had been defeated by the better man and congratulated his rival, admitting he still does not know how the SDLP councillor found room for the soup and those mince pies later that night.

“I do not like coming second best, but I take my hat off to Terry. He was clearly up for the challenge which both of us admit was very hard. Eating all that bread really does sap your energy and it is hard going for your jaws as well,” he joked.

“We were allowed to drink water but I found that the more water I drank the harder it became to munch your way through such a huge roll. I kept a close eye on Terry and could see from very early on that I was falling behind. The challenge looked easy on paper but was very different when we sat down at either end of the monster roll and looked at what was ahead of us.”

Councillor Walker, who admitted he skipped breakfast and lunch on Saturday, also suggested the eating challenge was harder than the boxing contest he had with councillor Andrews last year.

He added: “I thought I had a big appetite but Terry was the man on the night. I simply couldn’t compete and he deserves his victory. I will never look at a turkey and ham sandwich in the same way again.”

Subway want to thank the Rowallane councillors and local people for their support and have confirmed anyone who would like to make a donation can do so by calling at the Ballynahinch branch or logging on at justgiving.com/Subway-Ballynahinch. Donations can also be handed over to either of the two Rowallane councillors.