Lucas Punkari
After capturing the title of Ontario’s Strongest Man in Kitchener the previous weekend, local “strongman” Luke Skaarup continued his recent run of success this past Saturday in Thunder Bay.
In his return to his hometown, Skaarup won four of the five events to capture the Thunder Bay’s Strongest Man heavyweight title for the second-straight year, defeating Lakehead competitor Kyle Rayner by five points for the crown.
“It was a great feeling to compete in my hometown in front of my family and friends, and to defend my title,” Skaarup said.
“My performance was solid and I was able win four events, and I placed second only to Kyle in an event [the Viking press] where he is better than me on.
“I thought Kyle might be able to edge me out on the keg carry and the tire flip, though, as he is pretty good,” he admitted.
Skaarup rattled off three-straight wins to start the competition—he carried a 240-pound keg over a 100-foot course in 11.31 seconds, completed nine repetitions of 375 pounds in the bench press, and flipped an 850-pound tire over a 50-foot course in 24.53 seconds.
Then after finishing second to Rayner in the Viking press, Skaarup wrapped up the competition on a winning note as he completed 16 repetitions of 725 pounds in the car deadlift.
“That was the event that stood out the most for me, and I really felt that I could have done 30 reps if I had to,” Skaarup noted.
“Before I went, I asked the crowd if they would like to see me lift the car with Gary Palucci [the event host] in the trunk, and they all cheered so we did exactly that when the time came.
“It turned the 725-pound lift into about a 950-pound lift for the 16th rep, which was a little bit more effort than I wanted, but it was good for the crowd,” he reasoned.
In addition to his own strong showing, Skaarup’s brother, Dan, competed at the event in the lightweight division, where he also won four of his five events to repeat as champ.
“It’s a great feeling to compete with my brother, Dan, and for him to do well there, too,” Skaarup said.
“We did two bodybuilding competitions together about 10 years ago, and now we’ve done two ‘strongman’ competitions together, as well.
“We both won last year and this year we got to repeat in front of our friends, family, and a large crowd in Thunder Bay, so that’s very special,” he added.
Luke Skaarup now will be spending the next couple of weeks in training mode as he prepares for the Canada’s Strongest Man competition Aug. 18-19 in Quebec City.
This will be his second appearance at the national championships, previously finishing in eighth place in 2009.
“My plan is a light training week this week, and next week I will be focusing more on technique and speed, with two heavy event days this weekend to mimic the events that will be at the competition,” he explained.
“Along with that, I’ll do three or four sessions to improve my oxygen recovery after fully exerting myself through sled pushes, prowler sprints, sandbag carries, or other difficulty exercises,” he added.
