STRONGMAN COMPETITION UPDATE:
First Event: Deadlift Medley 150kg/185kg/215kg/250kg - 60s timecap
I went into this competition knowing that this was going to be my strongest event. If I wanted to be competitive, I was going to need to place well in this event. I took third place. Only a fraction of a second between first place and I. I wore my straps just in case grip decided to be an issue for me, but I just grip and ripped these weights and was quite happy with how it felt/went.
EDIT: They released the actual times on this one, and I won this event by nearly 2s.
Second Event: Viking Press 105kg - reps in 60s
I went into this even thinking, “just beat 12 reps”. I ended up getting a “no-rep” on the first as I didn’t wait for the down command (oops), I was only credited for 17 while video looks like 20 (not counting the no-rep). No complaints, as I still wasn’t convinced that I was going to remain top 5 following the remaining events. Ended up in fourth place overall after 2 events.
EDIT: First and second place tied with 20reps, third at 18reps, and I was fourth with 17reps.
Third Event: Sandbag to Wheelbarrow 90kg bag to 300kg pre-loaded wheelbarrow - 60s timecap
I was a little nervous for trying to steer the two-wheeled wheelbarrow. I have one at home, and I’m pretty lousy at navigating it around when doing work around the property with it. The sandbag pick went OK, run was fast, but I let my weight get forward a little early and ended up falling into the wheelbarrow. Luckily I was far enough that the bag landed into the wheelbarrow and I could recover quickly and move onto the wheelbarrow. As expected, I took a long route (reminded me of my golf game) as a swerved the wheelbarrow from left to right as I made my way back 50’. I ended up getting it done in 15.59s. It wasn’t pretty, but that ended up being another top 5 finish. I’m now in 3rd place heading into the next event.
EDIT: This time was good for 3rd, 0.07s behind 2nd.
Fourth Event: Simulated Tire Flip 255kg - 3 flips in 60s.
Now this was a cool piece of equipment. Caught most of the competitors a little off guard, the shorter competitors (myself included) seemed to struggle more than the taller ones. After watching some of the struggles of the first 15 competitors, I was unsure what to expect (I got in 1 practice flip with the unit empty before they loaded it up to competition weight). The first two flips went well and I sort of just expected the third rep to go the same. It didn’t. I battled and battled, and decided to drop it and see if I could clean/pop it up higher on my chest to get a better position. I did manage to complete the three reps, but lost a little ground on this one. Down to fifth place with one event remaining.
Fifth Event: Sandbag Toss Over 15’ Bar 25/30/35/40/45lbs
I practiced this once at home with a 35lb bag, and managed to hit it. That was my goal for this event, hit the 35lb bag. I took one practice throw with the 25lb bag and it went over the bar. Good enough. After watching the first 13 competitors I knew I needed to hit the 35lb bag to remain competitive and that hitting the 40lb bag would put me in a good place. Everyone hit the 25lb bag, almost everyone hit the 30lb, ~50% hit the 35lb bag, two people hit the 40lb and only one completed the 45lb bag. I managed to time my release well, and managed to get the 40lb bag over the bar, all bags were completed in a single throw. I was quite happy about this!
EDIT: I was able to hit the 4th bag the quickest, landing me in 2nd place on this event.
About 30mins later the podiums were announced and I was a little surprised to hear my name being called for third place in my group of 18 competitors!
I exchanged a few words (and was even complimented by) Mitchell Hooper who just came off a very recent Arnold Classic Strongman win. He seems like a very humble man who spent the entire day helping out with this event (he was running the 120kg flight). Very approachable, I’m a bit of a fanboy now.
Videos to come!