LIBERTY, Mo. — This story involves fantasy football, multiple states, a marathon and whole bunch of waffles.
Michael Sahagian of New York has been playing fantasy football with the same group of friends for more than 15 years.
This year, he suggested the "Waffle House Challenge" for the person who finished last in the league.
"You need to stay in the Waffle House for 24 hours, and each waffle you eat shaves off one hour of the time," Sahagian said in describing the challenge.
Sahagian got to test his new challenge this year after finishing last in his league.
But why is this New York man fulfilling his "punishment" in Liberty?
Like all good questions, there's a complicated answer.
Sahagian is a marathon runner, with a goal of running one of the grueling races in each of the 50 states.
He'd been training for one in Delaware, but that race was cancelled, so he needed to register for a replacement, so his training wasn't wasted.
He found a race in Lincoln, Nebraska on May 2nd. But Lincoln doesn't have a Waffle House.
So, Sahagian flew to Kansas City, drove to Lincoln, completed the marathon, then drove back to KC, where he chose the Waffle House in Liberty.
He began at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 3rd with a goal in mind.
"I would say realistically, if I can get 12 waffles, I'd be happy with that," Sahagian said. "And I have to eat some more, because my flight's at 7 a.m. (Tuesday) morning, so I've gotta be done, so there is an end goal here."
Sahagian's friends have been checking in with him from New York. He didn't complete the challenge at home, because the closest Waffle House was still several hours away.
As for advice for other fantasy football players, so they don't end up last in their league?
"I think I got like, too attached to my guys, and I could have made some trades that could have saved me, and I was a little stubborn," Sahagian said. "And I'm paying for it right now at 10:30 in the morning in a Waffle House."
