Those who work out in the Memorial Sports Centre weight room and watch 38-year-old Dave Mitchell and 45-year-old Dean Patrow lift weights may dismiss them simply as a couple of older guys pounding the iron–maybe trying to relive something that had long since passed.
But those who know them well are aware these two see powerlifting as a lifelong love and sit near the top of their field in national competitions.
Last month, the duo competed at the Canadian Drug-Free Powerlifting championships in Taber, Alta. Patrow squatted 660 pounds, benched 413 pounds, and did 585 pounds in the deadlift to win and set record lifts in the first-ever “raw” division (belt as only supportive gear).
At this event last year, Patrow set the Masters’ world record with a 720-pound squat. He currently is ranked 14th in the drug-free rankings.
Meanwhile, Mitchell won the 181-pound class with a 525.5-pound squat, 265-pound bench press, and 535-pound deadlift. The win was his first since his comeback–his second comeback–after twisting his back at a 1999 competition in Kellar, Mn.
“It’s a little tougher to recover when you’re older,” admitted Mitchell. “You don’t recover like you used to.”
A younger Mitchell had won two Canadian titles in 1988 and 1989. His career highlight was earning a fifth-place finish at the 1989 world championships.
The Fort Frances native walked away to get married and have children. But weightlifting was still on the mind.
“When it’s in your blood, it’s hard to get it out,” said Mitchell, as he made constant references to his rolled-up powerlifting magazine. It was one of the few forums Mitchell used to keep track of the sport during his sabbatical.
The other was Patrow, whom he met at the gym in 1995. It was the “Reverend” who gave the positive advice for him to come back.
“If I helped him at all, it’s that he started going to meets and I gave him the morale encouragement to continue,” recalled Patrow, a travelling minister based in Fort Frances.
In 1997, Mitchell made his lifting return with all-time personal highs in the squat (605 pounds), the bench press (300 pounds), and the deadlift (575 pounds). He said the mental approach to lifting after so many years was just as important as safe physical training.
“As long as you stay injury-free, you can lift well into your 50’s,” he noted. “You just have to train smarter as you get older”.
Patrow is the best example of this. He left the sport in 1982 to concentrate on his religious duties and family. The main difference has been hitting his peak in his second tour of duty as a power-lifter since his return in 1994.
“It was a gradual distancing from the sport. It was the physical pain and commitment to training that played the biggest role,” said Patrow, who, unlike Mitchell, stayed completely away from the sport in those 12 years, claiming to work out just once in that span.
But when it came to considering a return to the sport, he took a serious approach. “I felt it was the Lord’s will. He put it into my heart to lift again,” he said.
These days, Patrow travels from town to town on Sundays to hold a service and sermons. And yes, he does incorporate his athletic background into his preaching.
“Building your faith as you go through your trials is the same as weightlifting where you push more weight and get stronger, he explained.
“And as you resist and stand firm in your trials, you get stronger in faith”.
Their days of lifting are far from over. In addition to their plans to attend a meet in Moose Jaw this fall, the drug-free powerlifting association even has approached Patrow to organize an Ontario competition here.
If it’s a go, it would be the first ever in Fort Frances. But so far, Patrow has had trouble handling the expenses for the cost of drug testing and equipment rentals.
Mitchell continues to train as hard as he ever did- and said he’s close at making a run at the 551 pound, drug-free squat record.
“I look at Dean and see how far he’s advanced, I think, ‘Hey, why can’t I?'”, said Mitchell.
Patrow tries not to think too much about putting the weights down for the final time. He has more interest in reaching his goal of squatting 750 pounds.
“I basically train for the next meet and not think about the long-term. It’s hard enough to worry about making three good lifts,”he said, adding he’ll know when it’s time to sit back and reminisce.
And when he does, he’ll have the trophies- and memories- to carry him back.
“At the bottom of every trophy, I write what attempts I did and what lifts I made,” he said. “So years from now, I can look back at it and ask, ‘Was I ever that strong?'”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
