Florida Keys resident Kevin Renly, 62, claimed victory at the 2026 World Famous Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Key West on July 4th. Renly finished a 9-inch Key lime pie in 59.6 seconds, adhering to the competition's rule of not using his hands.
Renly's winning strategy involved an unconventional approach to the pie's whipped cream topping. He revealed that he removed his shirt and used it to quickly clear the cream from the pie before tackling the crust. "You didn't have to eat the cream. So, I figured, 'How am I going to get rid of the cream real fast?'" Renly told Fox News Digital. "So that's what I figured out. I take my shirt off and dive into it, pull up and the whipped cream is on my chest."
He then flipped the pie upside down to address what he described as the most challenging part: the dry crust. "How are you going to eat the crust? That's the worst part, because it was just so dry," he said. "No problem. We'll just flip it upside down and eat it that way."
The competition, a staple of the five-day Key Lime Festival, drew hundreds of spectators. This year marked Renly's third attempt at the title, having finished in second place in both 2024 and 2025.
The victory held personal significance for Renly, as the competition fell on his wedding anniversary with his wife, Julie. "I didn't want to go home and tell her I'd lost again," he stated.
Renly also expressed a desire to keep the championship trophy within the Florida Keys community. "I sat there watching and thought, 'Wait a minute. All these people come [from] out of town and they take this trophy home,'" he told Fox News Digital. "This trophy needs to stay here locally, so some locals have got to keep it here."
Key lime pie was designated Florida's official pie in 2006. Traditionally, it is made with Key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks in a graham cracker crust, often topped with whipped cream or meringue.
Renly has set a new goal for himself: to become the first repeat winner of the championship. "No one's ever repeated for a win," he said. "Now I've got a new goal — to be the first repeat."