A chef at a western Pennsylvania Italian restaurant ate a 15-pound burger with 5.2 pounds of toppings in 4 hours and 39 minutes. Brad Sciullo, of Uniontown, is the first person to successfully eat the huge burger at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub, said pub owner Dennis Liegey.

The burger-called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser-includes a bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish.

When asked what possessed him to eat a burger that big, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Sciullo said: "I wanted to see if I could."

"I've always had a heck of a capacity and I can down about two gallons of water and I can do a gallon of milk in 20-some seconds," said Sciullo, a chef at Pasta Lorenzo's in Uniontown.

Liegey's pub in Clearfield-a town about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh-has become known over the years for its massive burgers.

Sciullo, 21, ate his 20.2-pound sandwich on Monday and said he was surprised he succeeded. He realised when he had gotten through half the burger in a half-hour that he had plenty of time to finish it up.

"About three hours into it, things got tough," Sciullo said. "It's exhausting. I chewed for five straight hours. I didn't talk."

As is customary in such challenges, Sciullo was appointed a pub escort. Philip Fimon, a pub cook, stayed with Sciullo through the eating frenzy, even going with him to the bathroom three times to make sure he didn't throw up, Liegey said.

For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, a certificate "and a burger hangover, as I call it," Liegey said.