Strongman at The Sanctuary

Team events at The Strongman Sanctuary

As well as the heavyweights previously reported, a further seven men’s teams and four women’s teams took part in a team strongman event at The Strongman Sanctuary in Kent on 10th January, all with fun team names; competition was hard in this first event of 2016.

First event of the day for the ladies was a 90 kg two-person log press for reps, in this event communication and coordination is paramount to get a smooth, successful lift. Meg Robson, Europe’s Strongest Woman under 80 kg was referee for the day. The first win went to ‘Christmas Pigeon’, Brooke Murray and Nina Manchip, who achieved 9 reps in the 90 second time limit.

Brooke Murray   Frankie Dale

Event two, a 180 kg two person axle deadlift saw ‘Christmas Pigeon’ take top spot again with 21 reps, pushing ‘She made me do it’, Christina Futcher and Natalie Potter into second place with 20 reps .

We moved outside into the cold for the third event; a yoke carry of 140 kg over a 20 metre course, the second team member returning over the course with a farmers walk weighting 60 kg per hand. The win this time going to Jen Tibbenham and Frankie Dale, the ‘Viking Beauty Queens’ whose time of 18.25 seconds beat the ‘Christmas Pigeon’ by just over 1 second.

Staying outside, event four was a mat to mat carry medley consisting of two 45 kg kegs, two Superior Strongman sandbags weighing in at 45 kg each, two awkward short railway sleepers, a 50 kg tyre and just for good measure a 20 kg slam ball. ‘Christmas Pigeon’ prevailed, their time of 1 min 48.44 seconds beating the ‘Viking Beauty Queens’ by almost 10 seconds.

Jen Tibbenham

We returned indoors for the final event of the contest; a 50 kg atlas stone to be lifted over a 4 foot high yoke bar. Each team member had to do one lift to start the event and then they could tag in and out during the 90 second time limit. Fast and furious action took place from all the teams with the ‘Viking Beauty Queens’  18 reps giving them the win, ‘Christmas Pigeon’ however were hot on their heels with 17 reps.

The full and final results were:

It was fantastic to watch the ladies in action, grit, determination and a never give in attitude.

The event order remained the same for the men’s open category, starting with a 150 kg two man log press. ‘Two of a kind’, Jason Hargreaves and Ricky Allen, took the first victory with 8 reps. Their nearest rivals, ‘Double D’, Daryl Hogben and Simon Yates, notching up 5 reps.

Chris Reader Sandbag

The two man axle deadlift this time had 380 kgs on the bar, ‘Double D’ took the win on 18 reps, second place was shared by ‘Two of a kind’ and Andrew Jones and Dan Rakauskas as ‘Captain calf muscles and the biceps of the future’ both scoring 14 reps.

Outside for event three, the yoke and farmer’s walk medley, 220 kg on the yoke and 85 kg each hand for the farmer’s walk, again, a 20 metre course. ‘Double D’ took the top spot here in 16.34 seconds for course completion; however, ‘Two of kind’ were only a quarter of a second behind, stopping the clock at 16.59 seconds. ‘Natural Disasters’ comprising of Lee Strawbridge and Chris Reader completed the top three with their time of 17.78 seconds.

The 20 metre mat to mat carry medley consisted of two Superior Strongman sandbags each weighing 80 kg, two 75 kg kegs and two 75 kg tyres. ‘Natural Disasters’ took the win in a time of 1 minute 15.88 seconds, second place went to Dumb and Dumber in 1 minute 19.41 seconds, ‘Double D’ completed the top three with their 1 minute 20.10 second run.

Dom Crane Stones

Back in the warmth of the gym, the four foot yoke bar and a 100 kg atlas stone awaited. One rep for each athlete set the teams on their way, tagging in and out as they tired. ‘Two of a kind’ took the win with an amazing 22 reps; ‘Captain calf muscles and the biceps of the future’, ‘Natural Disasters’ and ‘Double D’ all shared second place, scoring 18 reps each. A fast, furious and exceptionally close end to the days contest.

A great day of team competition, with lots to learn on the two person log and axle deadlift, thanks to The Strongman Sanctuary for their fabulous hospitality and warm welcome.

Les Wiltshire

Superior Strongman

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