Manawatu muscles on display

Manawatu will host some of the country’s strongest men and women as they pit themselves against 350-kilogram tyres and 170kg logs in a display of ultimate strength.

Men and women from across the country will descend on Palmerston North for the Manawatu Strength Competition on Saturday.

Event organiser Carl Waitoa, a former world’s strongest man representative for New Zealand, said the competition would include traditional strongman events.

Those included the monster tyre flip, dead lifting car axels weighing up to 300kg, lifting logs weighing up to 170kg, and the farmer’s walk - carrying weights in each hand and keeping them at their sides as they walk.

The competition will also feature a world qualifier for mas wrestling at the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan in September.

Mas wrestling is a two-man tug of war, where competitors sit on the floor facing each other with their feet pressed against a footboard, also known as the ‘‘mas’’.

The competition had 18 entrants as of Thursday, including four women, with more expected.

Waitoa said nine competitors were travelling from Auckland and Waikato for the event. Another six had entered from Manawatu.

Waitoa said the event was open to anyone.

‘‘The reason I call it a strength competition is I believe you don’t have to be big to be strong.’’

Waitoa said it was the first strength event held in the region and he hoped to get more people involved in the sport.

‘‘Just want to popularise the sport here in the Manawatu and give people something new. When people see strongmen lift things it is just amazing.’’

The competition will be held in the Zenith Fitness car park on Saturday at 11am.

Entries are open on the day for $30, but is free to those who want to watch.