Local resident Luke Skaarup finished fourth at the Strongman Challenge in Dubreuilville over the weekend.
The professional division, in which Skaarup competed, drew athletes from as far away as Memphis, Tenn., along with others from across Canada and the United States.
The athletes competed in eight events over two days.
Day 1 featured the truck pull (a fully-loaded transport and trailer for 80 feet), a maximum log press event, a van deadlift hold event for longest time, and the atlas stones event featuring five stones going from 235 pounds up to 360 pounds.
The events on Day 2 included the maximum wheelbarrow carry for 20 feet, the Viking press with 310 pounds for maximum reps, a 275-pound farmer’s walk and 750-pound frame carry for best time, and a medley event with 410-pound power stairs with three repetitions, a 460-pound sled drag, and three Fingal’s Fingers (logs erected from a resting position) for best time.
Skaarup recorded 86.5 points in all, excelling in the truck pull, atlas stones, and the medley event.
Skaarup, who recently moved to Fort Frances from Thunder Bay, was proud that he was able to crack the top five against a strong field, and even was able to match a personal best in the log press with 330 pounds.
He also held up the van in the deadlift for 45 seconds, pulled the truck 42.6 feet, and completed the atlas stones in 29.18 seconds to place him fourth after the first day.
From there, Skaarup finished eighth in the wheelbarrow carry on Day 2, but pressed the 310-pound apparatus nine times in the Viking press.
As well, Skaarup completed the farmer’s medley in 21.54 seconds and finished second in the final medley with a time of 50.71 seconds.
In the end, he missed the podium by 0.5 point and second place by just four points.
“It would have been nice to have a podium finish, but I met my goal of being in the top five and didn’t suffer any injuries at all,” Skaarup noted in a release.
“[I] was very pleased [with] my performance overall in everything but the wheelbarrow and van deadlift hold,” he added.
Skaarup noted that it was “no surprise” that J.F. Caron, a World’s Strongest Man contestant and national runner-up, took the competition with 113 points given he won four of the eight events.
Skaarup now will take two weeks off from training before getting back into game-shape for his final competition of the year at the Bavarian Strongman Challenge on Oct. 9 in Kitchener.
