By Rita Raccoon, consumer and oddities reporter
Key West’s latest pie champion did not need a fork, a plate, or even the normal dignity associated with dessert. Kevin Renly of Summerland Key won the World Famous Key Lime Pie Eating Championship on July 4 by finishing a whipped-cream-topped, 9-inch Key lime pie in 59.60 seconds.
The contest, part of the 2026 Key Lime Festival, asked competitors to keep their hands behind their backs. The festival schedule put the championship at Southernmost Beach Café in Key West, with 25 contestant places available; the Key West Chamber of Commerce reported that 25 people took the plunge on the day.
A very specific route to glory
Renly was not a first-time optimist. According to the Chamber’s report, he had competed in 2024 and 2025 before winning this year. Its account says he called the third attempt “the charm” and noted that he did not want to go home with another near miss on his 37th wedding anniversary.
That is a lot of pressure to place on one pie. Rita’s consumer desk can confirm only the essentials: one whole pie, no hands, plenty of whipped cream, and a clock that apparently does not care about anyone’s shirt.
The rules were delightfully unforgiving
The festival described the event as a head-to-head race to finish a 9-inch Key lime pie without using hands. The Chamber’s post-event report added that goggles and dive masks were permitted. That practical allowance suggests the organizers had a realistic understanding of whipped cream’s travel plans.
Public radio station WLRN also identified Renly as the winner of the festival’s 14th annual contest. The result makes him this year’s holder of a title that is both highly specific and, for obvious reasons, unlikely to be defended in a white linen suit.
Why Key West keeps making room for the mess
The pie-eating championship was one event in the July 1–5 Key Lime Festival, a program that also listed tastings, a vendor village, a 5K, trivia and other citrus-centered gatherings. The City of Key West’s calendar recorded a festival kickoff street closure on July 1, another small signal that the celebration extends beyond a single very determined face-first moment.
Renly’s 59.60-second finish is the measurable part of the story. The less measurable part is the public service performed by any grown adult who volunteers to turn a local dessert into a stopwatch event. On behalf of snacks everywhere: thank you for your citrus-forward commitment.
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