If your idea of hell is a day at the beach with tens of thousands of other people then welcome to your worst nightmare.
Every year tens of thousands of people head for the beach on New York's Coney Island for its historic July 4 Independence Day celebrations.
On a normal hot summer's day about 120,000 people can crowd on the sand but it really was standing room only on the 4.8km stretch of beach for the country's national holiday on Wednesday.
The big event of the day is the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest.
Defending champions Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and Miki Sudo held on to their titles, each downing dozens of hotdogs in front of thousands of spectators, reported the New York Post.
But the event was not without controversy with a suggestion the judging system may need to change after judges lost count of how many dogs Chestnut and runner-up, Carmen Cincotti, had eaten.
"I knew early on that they messed up. I can see the counter in front of me," Chestnut told the Post. "At the first minute, they had me down at 10. I knew it was 20. They fell behind really quick.
"I didn't let it bother me. If I let it bother me, I'd slow down and not win the contest," he said. "I know there is a system. I know they double check. At the end, I knew I'm at 74 — 64 feels a lot different in the stomach than 74."
Meanwhile, Miki Sudo smashed 37 franks and buns down her gullet to notch her fifth consecutive Mustard Belt in the women's competition. Michelle Lesco came in second, scoffing down 28, and Juliet Lee placed third with 25.
Sudo and Chestnut earned a cool $10,000 apiece.
AP- Via news.com.au