Event will feature strong competition

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2011 (5412 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Viking presses, farmer’s walks and keg loads will all be on tap at a North End saloon this weekend.

Teddy Bob’s Country Bar, located in the Stock Exchange Hotel at 1105 Arlington St., will host the Manitoba Association of Strength Athletics’ Teddy Bob’s Strongman 2011 on Sat., March 26.

The strongman competition is expected to attract dozens of competitors from across North America.

“You are going to see some guys losing their minds, looking like they are blowing their owns heads off while accomplishing some incredible feats of strength,” says competitor Derek Spence, who lives in the West End.

Spence, 32, has had to travel a long — and sometimes frustrating — road back to competition. He has not competed in a strongman event since 2004.

A shop loader by profession, he will be competing in the heavyweight class at the Teddy Bob against men who weight an average of 280 pounds. Spence, who is 6-foot-6 and weights 354 pounds, said he can’t wait to compete again.

“After seven years it is time to test the waters again,” he says.

Neil Campbell, who lives in St. Vital, has endured an even longer absence from competition. He left the sport for nine years to spend more time with his family.

“I’m 39 now, so I’m going to have to get serious if  I want to get back to really competing over the next few years,” he says.

The layoff hasn’t been quite as long for Brent Hamm, who hails from Altona, but he is anxious to see how he’ll fare after a two-year absence from the sport.

“This August we’ll be hitting Winkler and this competition is the first indoor Winnipeg competition in a long time,” says Hamm, a provincial director with the MASA.

Hamm says strongman competitors are a different breed of athletes. Success in the weightroom doesn’t mean automatic success in competition, he says.

“I don’t see too many strong gym guys coming in any having real success. One or two have, but not too many,” he says.

Hamm’s training facility in Altona has become something of a training hub for strongmen in Manitoba.
“We’ve got a lot of space out there, which is one thing you do need,” he says.

Strongman competitions aren’t for the weak of heart — or arms. Competitors can be expected to lift 500 pounds or more in some events.

While most of the events are individual competitions, the farmer’s walk pits competitors head-to-head.
“We’ve got them literally facing each other squaring off while holding 275 pounds in each hand,” Hamm says.

Another event, the rolling thunder weight lift, will be open to members of the public.
For more information visit www.strongmanitoba.com.

rob.brown@canstarnews.com