Posted: 9/4/03

It was an 'Ultimate Extreme Challenge' at Minnesota State Fair

by Sue Austreng
Life editor

The crowd grimaced and squealed as Robert Jost swallowed sardines in record time at the Great Minnesota Get-together last week.

His prize for winning the sardine swallowing contest? A toothbrush.

For the duration of the Minnesota State Fair, Jost, a 22-year-old from Anoka, languished inside a giant hamster cage, enduring 90-degree heat, nibbling on lettuce and carrots, and withstanding strangers' gawking eyes alongside a dozen bedfellows.

A second Anokan, Tom Streff, 23, joined Jost in Channel 45's third annual Minnesota State Fair Ultimate Extreme Challenge.

In the end, a 22-year-old Minneapolis woman was crowned queen of the competition and drove away in the grand prize, a $33,000 Toyota Hylander SUV.

Second prize was an all-inclusive trip for two to the Dominican Republic.

Jost and Streff and their hamster cage roommates were chosen from a pre-qualifying troupe of 2,200 collected by Channel 45 throughout the metropolitan area during summertime 2003.

According to Andrea Creech, director of creative services for Channel 45, the contestants were put through FBI background checks before qualifying for the Ultimate Extreme Challenge.

"We just wanted to make it a safe, fun time for everyone," Creech said.

"Safe" and "fun," maybe, but clean and comfortable? Hardly.

While living in the oversized hamster cage, contestants were forbidden showers, had to visit the Porta Potty wearing a T-shirt proclaiming, "I gotta poop!" when nature called, and subsisted on hamster food: lettuce, carrots, apples, oranges, rice, and all the water they could drink.

Before the war was won, battles ensued. Who could eat the most sardines in the least amount of time? Who can down a jar full of honey? Who has the best balance on a rolling barrel? Who will swallow an entire lemon?

And as each day of Ultimate Extreme Challenge passed, alliances were formed and roommates were eliminated until two remained.

Then, on Labor Day, the expelled returned and chose the Ultimate Extreme Challenge champion.

Hamster cage roommates ranged in age from 19-60 years old. Occupations ranged from teacher to student to cashier. Avocations ranged from camping to coin collecting to drag racing.

Although history and experience varied, motivating forces behind the competition seemed universal.

"I did it for the car," Jost and Streff both said.

"That's a great prize, and it's a great time," Streff said.

"Yeah, now I'm driving an '88 Beretta. You can bet I want that Hylander," Jost said.

But in the end Jost and his fellow Anokan were eliminated before the grand prize was awarded.

"It was a great time, though," Streff repeated.

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