Strength athletes from Williams Lake and beyond were flexing their muscles earlier this month at Concrete Fitness for a powerlifting competition.
Tyson Delay, a local powerlifter and strongman, organized the event alongside friend and fellow strength athlete Mathew Crowther.
“I have a heart for strength sports and I’m looking to share it with the community and hopefully expand strength sports in the north,” Delay said. “Williams Lake is my main focus but I want to include everyone from the region: Kamloops, Quesnel and Prince George.”
Exactly that happened May 5 in the Concrete Fitness parking lot when roughly 15 athletes converged for a precursor for an event Delay’s hosting this coming September: the Cariboo’s Strongest Man.
“We had Canada’s strongest amateur powerlifter come, as well as a former B.C. Strongest Man, who’s coming out of retirement and made his first competition to herald it this one.”
Canada’s strongest amateur came in the form of Dominic Toovey of Prince George, who Delay described as a “320-pound, hairy, bearded caveman.”
Colin Van Ender, also of Prince George, competed and, at 255 pounds, has been crowned B.C.’s Strongest Man.
At the event, competitors took part in a log lift.
“Basically, you start with a lower set weight, so it started at 135 pounds then went up after that,” Delay explained. “Guys get to choose how much they lift afterwards. Everybody did the 135 to open, then the next guy asks for 165, then 185, and so on and so forth. The top guys lifted 320 pounds.”
The lift, he said, is extremely awkward.
“There’s a lot of complex movement involved,” he said.
First place in the lightweight division went to Daniel Tjernlund with a 185 pound lift. Secon was Caleb Pierce, a Williams Lake bodybuilder, with a 175-pound hoist.
In the middleweight category it was Delay placing first with a 220-pound log lift.
Evan Webster of Prince George placed first with a 220-pound lift, while Parm Kular of Williams Lake was second with 185 pounds.
In the heavyweight division there was a tie for second place with Brennan Gullickson and Brandon Hussey both pressing 220 pounds.
“They are both formerly local bodybuilder types but now they are seeking more of a strength journey with weights,” Delay said.
First in the heavyweight division was Prince George’s Colin Van Ender with a massive 320-pound log lift.
“Roughly 15 years of competing seems to have paid off for him,” Delay said.
The ladies’ category saw Mandi Hardy of Prince George place first lifting a 65-pound log.
And local strongman Mathew Crowther, meanwhile, was second in the super heavyweight category with a 22-pound lift, while Toovey was first with a 320-pound log.
“It was a good event,” Delay said. “It was kind of a prelude to the local competition coming up in September. The sport isn’t so popular in Canada, so we’re just trying to get people out there to see it.”
September’s Cariboo’s Strongest Man will be held in the parking lot at the Real Canadian Wholesale Club in Williams Lake.
