A thin wallet and dining hall ennui are enough to launch Stanford students into the competitive eating circuit. Intermission compiled the area’s greatest food challenges for those looking to flex their stomachs.

(1) The Pho Challenge

Slurp down two pounds of beef and two pounds of noodles within an hour at Pho Garden in Mountain View, and you get to take the giant bowl home. Otherwise, you pay the $22 price tag.

(2) The Hellfire Challenge

Test your spice tolerance for a free T-shirt at SmokeEaters in Santa Clara. Masochists who take up The Hellfire Challenge must eat 12 hot wings in 10 minutes – then go another five minutes of “afterburn” without any drinks or napkins.

(3) Killer Whale Roll

San Francisco’s Bay Shabu Sushi Sake pits contestants against the four-pound “Killer Whale Roll,” a rice slab of spicy tuna, eel, shrimp, crab, acovado, tempura, sweet potato and sauce. If you finish in under half an hour, you get on the “Wall of Fame;” if you fail, you fork over $40.

(4) Iguana’s Burritozilla

The 17-inch, five-pound burrito baby-monster made by San Jose’s Iguana’s puts the Treehouse to shame.

(5) J-Bo Challenge

Consume $20-worth of non-beverage menu items from Jack in the Box to win bragging rights and smug indigestion. Substitute Taco Bell or In-N-Out at will, or hit up all three for the fast food triple crown. (No, this isn’t a real challenge, but you’ll probably do it anyway.)