Scottish UK Strongestman Qualifier

Thought I use a slightly different approach for my report on the Scottish UK qualifier, we’ll see how it goes and what you think.

Not a great day weather wise, rained most of the day so we all got soaked, but everything else worked like a charm, great organisation by Stuart Murray enterprises.

We had 10 athlete’s competing in the full event, plus Simon who tried 4 of the events, but who didn’t score in the actual competition as he did not try the squat or log lift.

Stewart Bell
Stewart started off well, getting 3 reps in the squat, the squat was 260kg, this with the suit only half on. But then he started to run into trouble, Stewarts left arm means he has a very had time pressing the log, he cleaned the weight easily 4 or 5 times but each time his grip would fail on his left arm, the same problem plagued him in most of the other events. If Stewart could get that problem sorted he would really give some of the top guys a run for their money, as he is very strong, he’s just can’t transfer that strength to the events due to his left arm.

Andy Patrick
Andy, vertically challenged but very strong in the squat (5 reps) and the log (2 reps). His hand let him down today, he damaged it the week before the Scottish, and it hasn’t had a chance to heal since. So his grip let him down all today, once his hand is healed I’m sure he’ll be back to his best.

Ian Plews
Ian did really well in the squat (2 rock bottom reps), but again the log and the deadlift were just too much. The deadlift was more of a grip problem than any lack of strength. He picked up some useful points in the crucifix but his fitness meant that he struggled in the medley and truck pull. So if Ian and improve his grip, pressing and fitness he’ll be up their.

Douglas Reid
Douglas started well, getting a rep in the squat, much harder for the taller lifters, but then his press let him down. He did really well in the deadlift (6 reps) and the truck pull (39.47 seconds) but just ran out of gas in the medley. Give him time to work on his pressing and fitness and he will start to make trouble for the others.

Frank (I’ve a sore back you know) Connolly
Frank struggled through the first 3 events, his back really hampered his performance. But come the last 3 events we saw what he could do, winning the crucifix with 50 odd seconds and placing well in the truck pull and medley. Franks only problem is that his back needs time to heal, once that’s sorted then he’ll be back pushing for the top spot. That’s if he doesn’t retire, how many times have I heard, “that’s my last one, never again”.

David Eastwood
David bombed in the squat, psyched himself out of it and paid the price, nil pòint, I’m just rubbing it in so he doesn’t do it again. Messed up the log as well, but then got fired up for the rest of the event, 14 reps in the deadlift (10 points), fasted time in the medley (10 points), second in the truck pull and fourth in the crucifix, meant that he made a good try for the overall, but those first two events really killed any chance of a win. So Dave’s off to squat and press some more, so watch out next year as he’ll be their to win.

Stuart (I’m turning into a fat B*****D) Wadley
Stuart’s up to nineteen and a half stone, so his static strength is great, 6 reps in the squat and 4 reps in the log. Should have done better in the deadlift, but his grip let him down. If Stuart can sort his grip and get a little leaner and fitter then he’ll be very difficult to beat, but he says, that’s his last event, heard that one before too.

Billy Little
What can you say, 8 reps in the squat, very fast reps too, 4 reps in the log and that’s with losing one rep for not staying still, did really well in every event, the only weaknesses he has are running out of puff in the more athletic events and being a bit unstable in the log press. If he can improve on these he’ll be really hard to beat.

Brian Bell
I really thought Brian was going to struggle, he struggled at the other qualifier, but it wasn’t the same Brian that turned up yesterday, he wasn’t as fit or strong as him at his best, but he was 95% of the way their. 5 reps in the squat, 4 reps in the log and 8 reps in the deadlift meant he was the man to beat in the first half. He then followed on with a win in the truck pull, but his fitness told in the last event, just missing out on putting up the 135 stone. Half a point that’s all their was in it. Brian’s back so watch out.

Raymond Christie
Raymond did it, he had an excellent day, no screw ups, his squats went well 6 reps, log only 2 reps but useful points and then 8 reps in the deadlift. The truck pull was middle of the pack but he held on for 8 points in the crucifix and then his favourite event, the medley. I had to jog to keep up with him on the 140kg farmers walk and he was well in the lead by the time he came to the stone, but he struggled with the grip and in the end that cost him top spot in the medley. But he’d done enough to bump Brian of the top spot, by half a point.

So great day, the top five were split by 5 points, which shows that Scotland has a very healthy group of guys vying for the top spot.

So I’ve picked everyone’s performance to bits, its only fair I comment on my own performance. The squat and crucifix were always going to be a bugger to judge, with the squat I tried my best and feel I got most of them right. But without a definite mark to hit people will always complain. The crucifix was a very difficult event to judge, I tried to be as fair as I could and gave plenty of warning to anyone who I thought needed it, but at the end of the day I wasn’t happy with it. Thinking back we should have used the safety rack and set the catchers so that the athletes had their upper forearms touching the bottom of the catchers, then it would have been an easy task of saying your arm has to stay their and once it loses contact , times up. But that’s hindsight. The rest of the events went smoothly, we had two stopwatches for each part of each task, so we could and did double check every time taken that day.