Atomic Chili Dog Challenge Heats Up

I'm drenched in sweat. I can barely breathe. My mouth and throat are on fire.

What did I get myself into?

All I can think of at this point is surviving. Yes. It was that bad.

Call me a sissy. Call me a weakling. Call me whatever you want. I could not care less. Just end the suffering. Now.

While I'm going through hell, Mike Kissling is having the time of his life at my expense.

Kissling, 36, owns the Spanky's Dog House that opened Aug. 9 in downtown on K Street between and the . The quaint eatery boasts a menu of hot dogs, sausages and links. There's also an extensive assortment of toppings to choose from.

But its main attraction, which has been catching quite a buzz around town, is the Atomic Chili Dog Challenge.

More than 25 brave souls -- or should I call them insane? -- have entered the challenge since the opening. Only two individuals can claim success. They are my heroes.

The rest, as Kissling likes to say, got "Spanked."

Kissling somehow talks me into taking a teeny-weeny taste of his special chili sauce used in the challenge.

He hands me a Fritos chip lightly drizzled with the dark liquid.

Whatever. A small amount can't be that bad, right?

I confidently chew the chip and swallow it in a matter of seconds.

It easily becomes the most regrettable decision I've made in my life.

That confidence, or perhaps arrogance, quickly shrivels into fear.

The chili sauce is overpowering. My body goes into a state of shock. My eyes tear. I'm in pain. I've been Spanked.

"It's like a rattlesnake biting your tongue, and instead of venom it shoots fire and lava into your tongue," says Josh Mangold, who last week got Spanked in the Atomic Chili Dog challenge.

The 20-year-old from Discovery Bay can be seen in this video at around the 3:20 mark in agony. In the heat of the battle, after trying to shake off the effects of the chili sauce, Mangold blurts out that his teeth are vibrating.

The task is to scarf down a foot-long, half-pound hot dog covered in Spanky's atomic chili, nacho cheese and two jalapenos.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

The challenge must be completed within 15 minutes. You must sign a spicy-foods waiver. Drinks and napkins are forbidden. After finishing the meal, and to prove that your feat was no fluke, you must weather the raging fireball in your system without throwing up or drinking for five minutes.

Torture.

Brian Wang holds the title as the first person to complete the challenge. As a reward, the $10 hot dog was free of charge. View his challenge video here.

Wang, like any Spanky's champion, now has an exclusive T-shirt proving he Spanked the Atomic Chili Dog. He also receives a free weekly hot dog for a month and can be found on Spanky's wall of flame.

The other champ is now referred to in these neck of the woods as "Number 2" -- formerly known as Ian.

"Your whole body and mind is telling you to not put another bite in your mouth and you have to overcome all of that," Kissling says. "It amazes me that two guys have done it."

They are legends in my book, especially after my horrific experience tasting a drop of that atomic chili. Yes. A drop.

I have no intention on becoming "Number 3." I'll settle for a regular dog on my next visit.