Scotland’s Strongest Man 2004

So we were back again for the 3rd year in Glenrothes, this time we had the BBC in tow, to cover the event. This did mean that things went on a little longer than planned but it was still much shorter than last year’s event.

This year for the first time a qualifier had been held earlier in the year and the top 12 from that had been invited to compete at the Scottish Championships. Two reserves had also been selected, Alistair Christie and David Eastwood. With Jamie Barr, backing out early on due to lack of time to train and then Louis MacLean and Brian Bell not being able to attend that meant we had only 11 athletes competing on the day.

(from left to right, Andy, Stuart W, Stuart M,Colin, Alistair, Paul, Ewan, Frank, Dave, Brian and Chris)

You could sense that some of the athletes were nervous for the first event, for many today would be the first time they were on camera and that was an added distraction.

The axle lift was made up of an Olympic bar with four lorry tyres acting as weights. The axle weighed in at 115kg, 255lbs or just over 18 stone. The distinction of going first went to Dr Colin Bayne and he managed 2 reps. Paul Porteous was next up and did very well in achieving 8 repetitions in the 75 second time limit. It looked like Paul was going to win this event but last up was Brian Turner, knowing that it was going to take 9 reps to win the event he went all out and got his 9 repetitions and 11 points for first place. The final placing for the Axle Press are shown below.

The athletes seem to have gotten over their nerves for the second event The Medley, this involved carrying the 375kg Yoke 10 meters and then moving the 950kg barrow 10 meters. Many of the athletes had been practising with the yoke and had been completing 10 meters with it in training. However the floor at the venue was wooden and the athletes soon found that it was buckling under the weight of the yoke, this was making the balance of the yoke even more difficult and the whole event much harder. In the end 7 athletes managed to complete the 10 meters with the yoke but only one, Brian Turner managed to finish the course with the barrow.

After all the effort of the two previous events the athletes were looking forward to a rest with the Hercules Hold. Here 2 barrels each weighing 170kg or 27 stone, had to be held off the ground for as long as possible. These are the same weights that are used in World’s Strongest Man. A time of over 30 seconds is good and anything over 40 seconds could be viewed as a world-class performance. Brian Turner, having won the first two events fell behind here. An attack of cramp in his thigh cut his time short in this event. Stuart Wadley’s first attempt was stopped as the equipment had not been set up correctly, he came back to try again at the end of the event and posted the third best time of the day, and this from someone who can’t even close the number 2 Captain of Crush.

We had a 40-minute break, this allowed athletes to fuel up for the second half and get any nagging injuries seen to by the attending physiotherapists. Thanks guys, you did a great job of healing the sick. There were many tired backs by this time and Ewan Cameron had torn some fibres in his tricep in the Axle Press. But they all kept going for the last three events.

We started the second half of this year’s event with the Medley. Here a 100kg anchor, 100kg lorry tyre (complete with hub) and a 120kg keg had to be carried and placed on top of the 5’ 6” casks. Then a 120kg oxygen cylinder had to be placed on top of the 4’ 6” cask and lastly a 240kg chain had to be dragged and placed on top of a 20” platform and all this in less than 75 seconds.

No timings were taken on when the objects were placed onto the correct platforms so it turned into a nightmare for awarding points. Seven athletes succeeded in placing the anchor, tyre and keg onto the barrels, but the cylinder, with no easy way of holding onto it, was the real killer. Many a toe was nearly lost, as it would come crashing down onto the floor. However Brian, Paul and Christopher all managed to get the cylinder up, but ran out of time on the chain.

With four events over we have Paul, Stuart and Brian competing for overall honours. The next 2 events will be crucial in deciding who will be Scotland’s Strongest Man.

The Deadlift event comprises a frame that is lifted off the ground, to this frame is attached a large basket that is loaded with 15kg kegs. Initially the whole thing weighs in at 230kg but with each repetition a new keg is added so upping the weight by 15kg.

No one managed maximum of 7 repetitions, but Paul and Brian tied with 6 repetitions with Stuart Murray biting at their heels with 5 repetitions.

Going into the final event, there were only 2 points separating Paul Porteous and Brian Turner, which one would be crowned Scotland’s Strongest Man 2004. In order for Brian to win he needed to beat Paul by more than 2 placings. And so we came to the last and most people favourite event, The Stones.

There were 6 stones this year, 100kg, 110kg, 120kg, 140kg, 150kg and 160kg. The barrels were also new coming in at 5’ 6” tall a full foot taller than those used in past events.

David Eastwood set a very good time early on with 4 stones in 26.55 seconds. He just didn’t quite manage that fifth stone, Alistair Christie also posted a good time, 27.15 and was inches away from getting the 150kg monster onto the barrel before he lost his grip and it thudded to the ground.

But then we came down to our last two competitors, Brain Turner was first up and set a blistering time for the first four stones, 19.09 seconds, but try as he might he just couldn’t get the 150kg stone high enough, and had to admit defeat. It was now all up to Paul, if he didn’t beat David Eastwoods time then himself and Brian would be on equal points and Brian would win on count back. But that wasn’t going to happen, Paul sprinted along the platform throwing the stones up onto the barrels and ended up with a time just 0.16 seconds slower than Brian. He’d done enough and was now Scotland’s Strongest an 2004. The final placings in the Stones were as follows.

To the final placing at the end of a very hard day were:

Congratulations to Paul Porteous on a very good win, and to Christopher Innes who was awarded Best Newcomer. The top five Paul Porteous, Brian Turner, Stuart Murray, Christopher Innes and Alistair Christie have all qualified for Britain’s Strongest Man 2004. And if they follow the pattern from last year then Stuart Wadley and Frank Connolly may well be asked to compete as well.

A BIG thank you everyone that helped we could not do it with out all your help.

And thank you to John Beattie, Dougie Vipond and all at Ruck and Roll for producing an excellent program for the BBC, hope to see you next year.

Iain Murray