Sadly, Kansas City has yet to produce an eater voracious enough to be listed on the International Federation of Competitive Eaters' Web site. But there's hope, and his name is Howard Harrison. You'll find the 36-year-old regularly tearing up the competition at local taco-eating contests — he has won two in the past and considers tacos his specialty. This past June, he competed in the regional qualifying match of Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Unfortunately, after getting about eight dogs down during the 12-minute time limit, Harrison was still behind nationally ranked eaters "Erik the Red" and "The Mad Greek." No one blamed him for losing to those guys when he didn't even have a nickname, and they both finished more than 20 dogs. This is but a small setback on the road to greater glory, and Harrison says he'll be on the lookout for the next local competition. "I am registered to get contest alerts from the IFCE. Unfortunately, there's not too much stuff around here. You have to go to the coasts for the real contests," says Harrison, who works in guest services at the Holiday Inn's downtown locations and carries a fairly lean frame for a competitive eater. His healthy weight is actually an advantage in the field; less fat allows the stomach more room to stretch. Harrison considers speed his strength. "I do want to try the hot-dog-eating contest again. I just don't want to stretch my stomach out like a lot of these guys do in training. For me, I'd probably just train doing a big meal once a day at a buffet."