Strong men take on St. John’s
Strongmen wow St. John’s crowds
Ever see a man pull a transport truck that was carrying a piece of heavy machinery? It’s not something you see every day — but nevertheless it happened at the Newfoundland and Labrador Recycling Ltd.’s Robin Hood Bay facility Sunday.
Ever see a man pull a transport truck that was carrying a piece of heavy machinery? It’s not something you see every day — but nevertheless it happened at the Newfoundland and Labrador Recycling Ltd.’s Robin Hood Bay facility Sunday.
Icelandic strongman Hafthor Bjornsson managed to pull the enormous weight of the vehicle for several metres, while crawling along a track bolted to the ground.
Bjornsson didn’t make it to the end of the track, but the crowd appeared to be no less impressed.
This was one of several bouts of superhuman strength Sunday during what the organizers dubbed the first of many more international strongman competitions to be held in St. John’s.
Sunday’s event was co-hosted by Marshall Ennis, a former strongman and TV show host.
Ennis is retired from competition and now splits his time between inspirational speaking and organizing and promoting strongmen competitions.
He’s also a Newfoundlander and this weekend marked the first time in more than 20 years since he’s been home.
He’s here, along with fellow former strongman Magnus ver Magnusson, for NLL Recycling Ltd.’s 2012 Strongman Competition — Canada versus Iceland.
“This is the first time I’ve been back in 22 years. I went to downtown St. John’s and saw the row housing and saw the house where my grandmother and grandfather lived. ... I’m so happy to be here,” said Ennis.
“I’ve always said, everywhere I’ve been in the world, this is one of the strongest places in the world.
People still understand what it takes to do a day’s work and feed their families and everything else,” he added. “I love this province.” The day’s four competitors included Ari Gunnarsson, Bjornsson and Canadians: Chris Davies and Danny Frame.
All four men spent several hours carrying and lifting various rocks, dumbbells and weights for an appreciative crowd of several hundred people. Kevin Palachik was one of those spectators. He loved every minute of the show, he said. “It’s fantastic. I hope it gets bigger and better every year. It’s amazing to see the strength these guys have. It’s impressive to see these guys lift stones it took three guys to get back on the ground,” he said.
Ennis wasn’t done with Sunday’s event before he started talking about next year.
“It’s something we’re going to grow and grow over the next two years,” he said.
Next year’s competition will include competitors from a minimum of eight countries — probably more, he said.
Local strongmen (he didn’t mention if there would be a women’s event) will get a chance next year to participate and potentially compete with the professionals.