Lucas Punkari
With a goal of finishing in the top three, local resident Luke Skaarup accomplished just that over the weekend with a third-place finish at the Dubreuilville Pro Strongman event.
Skaarup, who goes by the nickname “The Iron Viking,” finished the two-day event with 80.5 points, which left him just behind runner-up Dave Ostlund and event winner Jean Francois Caron.
“Along with getting into the top three, I was looking to keep pace with Jean Francois and Dave as they were two of the biggest names out of the 13 athletes that were there,” Skaarup said.
“Jean Francois is the current holder of Canada’s Strongest Man and Dave has represented the United States six times at the World’s Strongest Man finals,” he noted.
After the first four events of the competition on Saturday, Skaarup found himself in second place overall, with his best finish being a second place in the SUV deadlift.
“That may have been the heaviest deadlift that I have ever done in a competition,” he remarked.
“There were about eight zeroes in a row before Tommy Miller from the U.S. hit two reps, and then there were some more zeroes prior to when I had my turn.
“I hit about five slow reps, paused, and gave it one more try before shutting it down as I knew Dave wouldn’t beat me on this event and that Jean Francois would top anything more than I did, so I decided not to go all out.
“Dave zeroed surprisingly and Jean Francois hit six reps for the win, but he missed on his first attempt at his fourth rep, which was a shock and showed that he is still human,” Skaarup laughed.
In the other three events Saturday, Skaarup finished third in the tire flip, tied for sixth in the log lift, and was fifth in the Atlas stones.
Then on Sunday, Skaarup accumulated the third-best score of the day with a total of 41 points, which was added on to his 39.5 points from Saturday to give him the final spot on the podium.
That final placing was boosted by a pair of second-place showings in the keg relay and the super medley, which went along with a seventh in the truck pull and a fourth in the Conan’s Wheel event.
“I was up early for the keg relay so I had to set the pace,” Skaarup recalled.
“I started well and kept a steady pace for a time of 36.60 seconds, which I was initially disappointed about as I felt it wasn’t going to hold up, but I ended up in second place behind Jean Francois.
“I was up third-last for the super medley and I saw most of the guys struggling with the sled draft, as they were having a really hard time getting it moving and keeping it going,” he added.
“Maxime Boudreault flew through the medley in a time of 37 seconds, so the pressure was on when I went up, but I started fast and flew through everything for a time of 33.97.
“Jean Francois beat me with a time of 32.50 seconds, but I keep surprising myself at how fast I am on these medleys,” Skaarup remarked.
Besides achieving his goals of a top-three finish and keeping pace with both Caron and Ostlund, Skaarup also felt he learned a few valuable lessons he’ll use going forward.
“Greatness in this sport is only a little more effort away for me, and that will come through training harder and getting stronger, as training just 10 percent harder will get me to that next level,” he reasoned.
“Due to how busy I’ve been in the last two weeks, I didn’t do any of my normal conditioning, either, and I noticed a difference on my recovery after the tire flip and the truck pull.
“I didn’t get sick, but I felt worse than normal for about 40 minutes after those two events,” Skaarup noted.
While still undecided if he’ll do any more competitions this year, Skaarup is planning to shut things down after Thanksgiving to let his body heal and recover before preparing for the 2013 season.
