All athletes suffer for their sport Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

The signs said rain or shine, so even record-breaking cold couldn’t stop the athletes at this weekend’s Spamarama at Waterloo Park from impressing the crowds with their canned-meat cramming skills. Brent Ricord retained his Spam speed-eating title from last year, beating out the father-and-son team of Dan and Dylan Wyrick. Onlookers put Ricord’s success down to his technique of standing, rather than sitting; a gnawing-jaw action; and regular sluicing-down with sips of bottled water.

In other events, the winner of the People’s Choice Spam recipe award went to the Velvet Hog Wedding Cake. The six-tier, red-satin cake with vanilla frosting (and just a hint of Spam) beat out strong competition from Spam Sushi, Dead Man’s Spam Thai Curry, and Spam Wellington With Deep-Fried Spam Chips.

This article appears in April 6 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.