The contest contained four grueling events, each testing a vital ability in the sport of strongman:
The contest began at the gym, at Tod Becraft and Julie Havelka’s training facility. This is a one-of-a-kind strongman training area in the Northwest. It has everything you’d need for strongman: tires, stones, stone platforms, axels, farmer’s walks, yokes, duck walk, logs, sled, and viking press. The viking press is particularly nicely made. An 8 ft long 5 inch steel pipe has a u-shaped handle and plate holders welded to it. It pivots on bearings, and is secured to a 2 ft by 2 ft steel plate anchored to the masonry wall. Julie designed the press based on the one she used at a previous contest, and her welder had the idea about the bearings, which really brought the piece into the 21st century! The competitors battled it out one by one on the viking press. There’s no slacking on this piece of equipment!
The next event was a killer. Not many people like to do medleys. Adding two or more Strongman events together and calling it a medley usually rouses a groan or two from the contestants. This medley consisted of picking up and carrying three sandbags across the gym, and simply loading them onto the ground, and then pulling a heavy sled 60 feet. The easiest way to make a sled impromptu is by using a car tire, rope or chain with a handle attached and plates for weight. As this was done in the gym on rubber mats, a tremendous friction is created with the sled apparatus, so that you don’t have to load a ton of weight on the ‘sled’ to make it hard to pull. Sled drags are always hard, but are even harder when done directly after some other event! All of the guys worked their butts off in this event, but all of them finished. Brice has always said he favors medleys. Although it’s a good idea not to bring up that thought to him right after he finishes a medley like this!
The third event was held at a different venue. The crew moved on to Tod Becraft’s home, to do farmer’s walk and truck pull in the street. The weather was 83 degrees and sunny. In other words, perfect for a strongman contest. After warmups, the guys took off with the farmers implements down the street. Neighbors and a few friends were on hand to watch and give support. In fact, the neighbors on Tod’s street have often enjoyed seeing Tod’s crew train. It’s a little bit of ESPN right at home in their eyes!
Once the farmer’s walk was through, out came the cars for the ‘truck pull’. Since there wasn’t an actual truck available to use for this event, two cars were used instead. This proved to work perfectly. A little slack was left in the rope so that the competitor could get the first car started, and then the second car would kick in. This setup is helpful in making the event feasible, since the course is on a slight uphill. Everyone finished the full course, and complained of a major quad and calf pump when it was through! There are certain perks to living on a cul de sac. One of them is being able to pull two cars up the street with ropes and a harness and not having to worry too much about traffic.
After the contest an awards ceremony took place. This is where Brice was awarded his trophy. The trophy is huge - it weighs almost 14 pounds and is a sculptured strongman lifting a stone. Brice was sure happy to have earned first place, as his eyes were wide when the trophy came out. Now Brice is qualified for the NASS Nationals and will be on his way to Myrtle Beach, SC to compete October 4th. The show looks to be very competitive - we wish Brice the best of luck. We know he’ll give 100%.
This contest was also a memorable event for Tod Becraft. At the awards ceremony, Tod announced that this was his last contest ever, and that he is now officially retired. He has competed in strength contests, mainly powerlifting, since 1981. Tod loves to train hard and loves the sport of strongman. So he will continue to train as hard as ever and push himself to achieve his own personal lifting goals. He just won’t be stepping onto the competitive field anymore. He is honored to have placed 2nd to Brice Gimbel in this contest.
This contest did not have as many competitors as the recent Hell on the Hill Strongman Challenge. Not a lot of planning time was available for the Portland Strongman Championships. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved, however, and a complete success for all the competitors. Everyone showed camaraderie and what it means to push yourself at the competitive level. You give no less than 100%. You have one chance, one set, and there’s no turning back. You gut it out and finish the course. Next year will be bigger - and we hope to see the same ‘small contest’ camaraderie that we saw at the 2003 Portland Strongman Championships!
The top three placings for the Portland Strongman Championships were: