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The competitors in the Rita's Italian ice-eating challenge all had one thing on their minds: how to keep their brains from freezing.

Standing in a steady drizzle outside Rita's in Crafton yesterday, the nine contestants donned their red Rita's shirts and prepared to eat as much Italian ice as they could stomach in 10 minutes. The top two winners of this week's competitions get Rita's gift certificates and will advance to the finals June 9 at Kennywood where they will vie for the $500 top prize.

Though the stakes were high, competition was friendly; most competitors gave each other pep-talks and openly compared strategies. Some brought friends and family members for moral support -- like Darrell Livingston from Mt. Washington, who brought his mother-in-law.

"He can do some ice," she boasted. "He doesn't get head freezes."

Livingston said he had prepared for the contest by "eating here all the time."

Deb Brown, of Crafton, said she had a big cup of coffee waiting in the car to help her thaw out after the contest. Her recipe for success: "swallow, don't chew."

Eventually, all the competitors took their seats at three circular tables on the outdoor patio, while the official judges looked on. With a stack of prepacked cups of ice in front of them -- and an empty quart container in case of vomiting -- they got to work.

Red cheeks, runny noses, intense shivering and swollen tongues followed suit, as it became clear that the thing would be tougher than expected.

Livingston pulled ahead early, finishing his first cup in less than two minutes.

Brown eventually caught up with him, as did the young Jim Igims, who bought himself time by stirring the ice with his spoon and drinking it. The three were tied at six in the final minutes of the contest.

In the last minute, Brown pulled ahead, though in the end, it was Igims who would take the win after finishing his sixth cup -- nearly two quarts.

Igims needed a few minutes to recover -- and to keep from vomiting -- before he could accept his gift certificate and relish in his victory.

"I came to win," he said.

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