Raunds duo found success at strongman competition

The sport of strongman has gained in popularity over the last decade with a move towards more dynamic events and less static strength. The shape of the athletes has also changed, moving to more athletic physiques. The East of England's Strongest man competition has been running for almost two decades attracting competitors from across the country.

After a few years training together in the Cave Gym in Corby Paul Fowler and Christopher Edwards both felt that it was time to test their strength in a competition and chose the beginners class of the 2023 East of England's strongest man, hosted by Saxonmuscle.

The day started at 9am with the overhead medley consisting of an 80kg log, 50kg giant dumbbell and 80kg barrel which had to be pressed overhead as quickly as possible within one minute. Second was the silver dollar deadlift with 180kg maximum repetitions in one minute. This was followed by a loading race, running a distance of 20m with 100, 75 and 50kg barrels then wheeling them back 20m in a barrow. The penultimate event was lifting an 80kg atlas stone over a 53 inch bar as many times as possible in a minute. The final event was a farmers walk, 20m timed run with 90kg weights in each hand. These events were spread out by 45 minute intervals to allow the other competitors to perform their runs and set up equpment.

Paul came first, winning by half a point and despite tearing his bicep muscle a week before the event Christopher came in fourth, missing third place by half a point.Strongman is a discipline whereby age is not necessarily a barrier, the younger competitors are often fitter but building strong muscles takes years of work in the gym. You are never too old to start.