ASC Golden State Strongman Challenge

I really wanted to do well at this contest due to my lackluster performance at the St. Pat's Qualifier. I came in with a beat up back due to the heavy deadlift at the St. Pat's contest but knew I was still strong and healthy enough to qualify for Nationals.

1. Seated arm over arm pull with Ford F-550 for 80': With my great luck, I drew the short stick on this event and had to lead it off. They apparently did not think the truck was heavy enough as it was announced that they let some air out of the tires for the Pros. The pull started out easy enough and then about halfway through, my grip started to tire. This was also the point where there was a deadspot on the pavement so if you did not pull with a lot of momentum through this spot, you were done. This is what happened to me as I did not finish the course. My distance was measured out to be 57'. I was very upset with this, but as it turned out only four Pros finished the course so my distance was good for middle of the pack.

2. 330# Axle Press for reps: I had hit two easy reps in training with 320#, so I wanted at least four in the competition. Like any good Mike Johnston production, the weight was increased to 330# but it did not really change my goal at all. At lot of people were bombing due to the fact that the axle was non-revolving which made it very hard to clean. I had practiced axle cleans with non-revoling bars in the past, so I was not worried. When my turn came, I performed an easy clean and jammed up two quick reps. I had the third rep overhead and locked out but my feet were not in place. Due to the fact we were pressing on an uneven roadway, I could not get my balance and lost the rep. I tried to clean the axle again but to no avail. I ended with two reps, again good for middle of the pack.

3. Car DL for reps: We had to lift a Ford Mustang for reps. After seeing at least half of the amateurs and a handful of Pros bomb this event, I was happy because I knew it would be heavy. I estimated the weight to be approximately 800# in hands. When I strapped in, the number to beat was 10 reps by Nick Best. I knew with my back feeling tore up it would be a tough number to beat. I got 7 reps fairly easy and took a rest. I began to come up with rep 8, but my back just did not have any more in it. My 7 reps, however, placed me pretty high in this event.

4. Farmer's Walk/Power Stairs Medley: The medley consisted of carrying 330# Farmers for 80’ followed by six power stairs (3 350#; 3 425#). After talking strategy with Jon and Ricky, it was decided that I should try to take the Farmers about halfway, rest, then take it the distance. I did just this (maybe resting too long on the Farmers). The power stairs were pretty easy; I was just getting tired near the end. I finished the medley in ~50 seconds, which was good for middle of the pack.

5. Atlas Stones: Like any good strongman contest, the final event of the day were the Atlas Stones. We had to place stones weighing from 280-400# on a 54" platform. I was in 5th place going into the stones so I wanted a good performance to hold onto my placing. I made it through the first four stones easily (280, 300, 330, 365) but slowly (about 40 seconds). I needed to place the 5th stone to get some points and keep my 5th place overall. When I went to lap the 5th stone, I got it about halfway up and ran out of gas. Shortly after, I ran out of time. Unfortunately for me, my four stone time was the slowest, placing me last in this event and dropping me from 5th overall to 9th overall!

Although I had my issues on the stones, I was happy with how I did. In the process, I qualified for ASC Nationals.

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