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In the world of competitive eating, contestants each have their own style. Some take huge, slow bites; some take small, quick ones. Some eat breakfast the morning of a competition (to stretch the stomach, naturally); some don't. But for Bethesda's Burrito Mile, one thing is clear: You gotta train.

The Burrito Mile, an annual event coordinated by Walter Johnson High School students, combines eating a burrito, then — you guessed it — running a mile. Last year, more than 300 participants crammed onto the track at the school for the event. The student-organized race raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Contestants can't just show up and expect to win, though. They need to have a plan.

"The running means nothing if you can't eat fast," said 17-year-old junior Sean O'Leary, the event's coordinator. "Anyone who eats [the burrito] in under two minutes is good; under one minute is just gross."

Ian Chow, a former Walter Johnson student now at Northwestern University, has set the record for the past two years, eating his burrito in just 37 seconds. Legend has it that Chow ate the entire pile of meat, beans, tortilla and salsa in five bites.

To try and top Chow—or at least get off to a good start—for days before the race, the competitors eat. And eat. And eat some more.

This year's event kicks off at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, at Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda. This week, O'Leary said he plans to eat "five or six" burritos to prepare for the event.

That amount of training, though, doesn't come close to Chow, according to Rafi Moersen, who founded the event in 2007 and is now a freshman at The George Washington University.

"He would sit and eat four burritos in one sitting," Moersen said. "That helped a lot because his stomach was expanded."

Most of the runners are on high school track teams across the county, so the mile is a piece of cake — or quesadilla. It's the eating that separates the hombres from the niños.

"I go with the chicken fajita burrito," said Paul Conant, a 17-year-old junior, training on a recent afternoon at a Bethesda burrito shop. "It's gotta taste good, and the chicken is less chewy than the steak."

And while the training seems no holds-barred, there are some rules.

Rule number one: You can't throw up. Once the burrito goes down, it better not come back up.

Number two: Well, technically "Don't throw up" is pretty much the only rule.

This year, O'Leary has created consent forms — "to quell the negative Nancies," he said — for all competitors under 18, and they must be signed by the student's parent. All proceeds go to support Walter Johnson's "Pennies for Patients" fundraiser, which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The Burrito Mile record is 6:15. You have three days to train. Go.

The third annual Burrito Mile kicks off at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, at Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda, 11211 Old Georgetown Road. Fees go to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The prices are $1 for bottled water, $10 for a T-shirt, $10 to enter the race (grants you one burrito) and $15 to compete in two races or the daunting two-burrito race. More information and consent forms for runners under 18 are available at www.burritomile.com.