While no parties, parades, or floating confetti will be seen for Philadelphia for their sports team - the Phillies losing the World Series just about 5 hours after the Union MLS team lost the Major League Soccer Cup final, there is one man who the city has shifted their focus to. A hero of sorts.

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On 12pm Sunday, a guy sitting at a makeshift table that sat on an abandoned pier, surrounded by a crowd of dozens who came to watch the milestone moment 31-year-old Alexander Tominsky finished his 40th day of eating an entire rotisserie chicken.

In just around an hour, Tominsky finished the journey he began over a month ago that had just as many fully invested in his self-challenge as those who were absolutely confused by it.

You can check out the full party happening while Tominsky ate the final chicken here:

Now known as “The Philadelphia Chicken Man," Tominsky decided that much of the world is in pain, so he must do something that brings himself pain and post it on the internet just to make others smile.

He documented his entire journey on Twitter, starting with sharing photos at Day 11 of the challenge.

“The pain is part of it,” he told the NY Times. “The abuse, the torture — all of that is just part of the experience.”

He said the challenge was also sort of a sensory challenge for him as well. The dark meat was greasy, the white meat dry. The sound of his greasy fingers sliding through the meat would make him cringe.

Tominsky told the Times in the last 11 days of the challenge, he'd chew the chicken small enough to force down with a glass of water. “Basically, I drank the chicken,” he said.

In the time of the challenge, Tominsky said he lost about 16 pounds because the chicken became the only thing he'd eat for the day.

On November 6th, the crowd arrived to the pier to find nothing but a red carpet leading to a table.

When I say that he drew a crowd, I mean look at how many people gave up part of their day to watch a guy eat a chicken.

As soon as he finished, he stood up from the table, faced the crowd, and the speakers on site played Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia.

Check out this timestamped video:

As he belted out the line, "Ain't no angel gonna greet me. It's just you and me my friends!" he took his last bite, and the crowd went ballistic.

It's a moment those in attendance will talk about for years, and tell their grandkids, "I was there when the Philadelphia Chicken Man ate his last bite."

Read more at NY Times

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