Last Friday’s Burrito Challenge at La Palma ended in a victory for food as no one from The Nicholls Worth could finish the 10-inch, five-pound burrito.The competitors, Mike Cartozzo, lagniappe editor; Kevin Schlegel, sports writer; Nicole Theriot, copy editor and Elizabeth Bourg, managing online editor, were all somewhat confident that they would finish the whole burrito, if not leave just a small portion of it.

Theriot, who stands at four feet, 10 inches, said, “I honestly thought I could handle a burrito that size quite easily. I was sadly mistaken.”

The competitors all prepared for this challenge very differently. Cartozzo and Bourg decided to eat Arby’s curly fries and drink coffee throughout the day while Schlegel decided to nap and exercise to hopefully stimulate his appetite. Theriot deeply considered running but “laziness took over.”

As the waiters and waitress’ brought out the burritos in what looks like a lasagna or casserole pan, strongly worded comments about the size of the burrito could be heard.

With the burrito in front of them, each competitor had their own strategy to conquer the challenge.

Mike Cartozzo took the well-known strategy of “slow and steady wins the race.” However, “Slow and steady did not work out so well,” Cartozzo said.

About 15 minutes into the competition, Theriot said, “I don’t even like burritos.”

The first to give up was Schlegel, who finished about half. After Schlegel, Cartozzo hit the brick wall, finishing over half. Theriot and Bourg quit together. While Theriot finished just shy of half of the burrito, Bourg spread her burrito around the dish, finishing about a fourth.

Bourg’s parents attended the challenge to both cheer her on and see how much of this burrito she could finish. Her dad enjoyed the competition so much that he paid for the four competitors’ burritos, each costing $14.95 plus tax.

“We thought the owner was giving the burritos to us for free at first because we didn’t know he paid for them,” Schlegel said. “It was awfully nice of him to pay for our food, especially since we didn’t eat it all.”

While the competitors were able to take home their leftovers, most have not eaten the leftover burrito for themselves.

“I put the leftovers in the refrigerator and left a note for my friends who would be coming in late that they should eat it,” Theriot said. “It was gone the next morning.”

“As far as I know, they are still in the fridge at my parents’ house,” Bourg said.

While some competitors did not feel the “after effects,” others had the privilege of tasting their food again or finishing that great book while sitting on the porcelain throne the whole night.

“At first, I thought I was fine! I didn’t get sick until Saturday night,” Theriot said. “The burrito definitely got the best of me. I’m still throwing up.”

While the competitors agreed the burrito was quite tasty, none of them would take on the competition again.

Theriot, who doesn’t like most burritos, said, “I would eat the burrito on a smaller scale because it was very good, but I’ll never order one that large again.