What some people will do for a free chicken sandwich.

More than a hundred chicken lovers camped out Wednesday at the new Chick-fil-A at 575 Garden of the Gods Road to score a year’s worth of free meals at the restaurant’s grand opening Thursday morning.

Richard Coley went the extra mile for free food. Several thousand miles, actually: the Florida man crisscrosses the United States to catch Chick-fil-A openings (the meals-for-a-year promotion is a company-wide thing). He’s hit 38 openings in 14 states in the past four years.

“I’ve already told (Chick-fil-A president) Dan Cathy I’m waiting for you to open one in Anchorage,” Coley said.

Only the first 100 people get a year’s worth of free meals (in the form of 52 certificates for a meal). Monica DeLuca of Divide arrived mid-morning Wednesday and found herself in spot 105 — after the first 100, another 10 fans are allowed to line-up and participate in a lottery for the year’s worth of meals.

No biggie, DeLuca said.

“I did this in Florida five years ago and was No. 1 on the list,” she said. “It’s just an adventure.”

Coley and DeLuca said the camp-out is mostly for fun and said they give away many of their meal coupons. Not so Kent Slack, who was near the front of the line with his friends Zach Newberg and Ashley Mueller. For him, it’s all about the chicken.

“Free food — definitely the motivator,” he said.

“This is worth more than I would make working today,” Mueller said.

If free is your price, but sandwiches aren’t your bag, Chipotle is giving away free burritos for a year to one customer in a drawing on Friday at its new location at 5102 N. Nevada Ave.—Call the writer at 636-0275

Tents and people, including Robyn Dell, bottom reading, dot the parking lot a new Chick-Fil-A on Garden of the Gods Road on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 as they wait for the new restaurant to open on Thursday. The first 100 people will be the recipients of a year’s supply of Chick-Fil-A. The Gazette, Bryan Oller Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE

BRYAN OLLER