THE 1st BEHEMOTHS and Boats STRONGMAN CHALLENGE
AT: Columbia Park, Kennewick, WA.
July 28th, 2001
Reported by: J.V. Askem

Heavyweight winner, Grant Higa lifts a 325 lb. Log.

The Head Behemoth, Michael Kromer, did an OK job for his first time out promoting a SMC. However, adjustments need be made for next year's affair! It started out to be good basic meet with 4 main-stay SM events. The first two events (Tire Flip and Log Lift) proved to be pure vintage strongman, but the second two events (Farmers Walk and Truck Pull) were too short of a distance and too light.

Veteran strongman Grant Higa, showed how experience will pay off when less experienced guys make costly errors. Grant's focus on just doing his best is all he needed to pull out one of the closest contest wins ever! At the end of this contest only 1/2 point separated the top three men in the Heavyweight class.

This contest also had a lighter weight class for guys weighing under 225 lbs, and here only 1 point separated 1st and 2nd place. There were 8 entries in the Heavyweights and 10 entries in the Lightweights.

NOTE: My apologizes to Lightweight winner, Todd Jewell, for not getting any good pictures. JVA

THE TIRE FLIP
Vintage strongman with two good tires! About 550 lbs for the Lightweights, and a little over 700 lbs for the Heavyweights. Also, the heavyweight's tire was very difficult to grab with no space to put your hands underneath. No contestant in either division finished the 100' course.

  
Left: Heavyweight, Brian Rehberg
Center: Lightweight, Alan Heer
Right: Lightweight, Roger Baker

THE LOG LIFT
Four attempts with a mandatory starting  weight was required for all contestants! 185 lbs for the Lightweights and 225 lbs for Heavyweights. Then the contestants could choose to pass or take the weights as they were called out. Only a couple of guys could not make their starting weights.

Here Jesse Marunde gambled, thinking it might take less attempts to win on a tie. So he passed on all weights up to 305 lbs. with Grant Higa and Dean Muncey both taking lighter extra attempts before 305 lbs. However, when all was said and done, it's not what you start with, but what you finish with that counts! Grant Higa was, without question, the best man on this event. Bob Moore from Portland Oregon was the best Lightweight log lifter.

  
Left: Lightweight, Jack Sandberg
Center: Heavyweight, Jesse Marunde
Right: Heavyweight, Dean Muncey

FARMERS WALK
This promised to be another vintage SM event, but for some reason the promoter insisted on making it only a straight shot of 100 feet. The weights were OK! 200 lbs in each hand for the Lightweights and 265 lb'ers for the Heavyweights. But just walking 100' proved to be a "Farmers Dash" rather than a Farmers Walk. So as I suspected before hand, even a slight error proved to be very very costly!

Grant Higa simply won this event because he made no mistakes, where Brice Gimbel and Jesse Marunde both made very costly errors!! Brice had a great pace going but his foot slipped just a few feet from the finish line. And Jesse misjudged the finish line and dropped his implements too soon! One implement was over the finish line, but the other wasn't.

  
Left: Heavyweight, Brice Gimbel
Center: Lightweight, Ben Matheson
Right: Lightweight, Scott Hughes

THE TRUCK PULL
Two F 350 Fords were used, with one weighted down for the Heavyweights, but the surface proved too flat. Once the trucks were rolling, some of the contestants were actually jogging the 100' course. Here again only tenths of a second separated many of the contestants.

  
Left: Heavyweight, Jason Rudd
Center: In the foreground, Heavyweight, Mac Tuiaea
                In the background, Lightweight, Andy Muncey
Right: Grant Higa shows how it should be done.

FINAL SCORES (Note: Tri Cities are the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, WA)
Lightweights
Todd Jewell, Tri Cities-------------------31 points
Roger Baker, Tri Cities-----------------30
Scott Hughes, Seattle--------------------26

Heavyweights
Grant Higa, Seattle, WA-----------------28 points
Brice Gimbel, Portland, OR-------------27.5
Dean Muncey, Prineville, OR----------27.5 (lower placings)

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Lisa Kromer, Kelly Mahoney, and Bob Heck.

IMO, this contest has the most potential in the Northwest to become a bon fide regional level grand prix event! Provided the events are made adequate enough.

The Tri Cities area is big enough, with plenty of good hotels, restaurants, and other facilities. Plus there are plenty of quality strength oriented people in this area, who have the proper attitude and enthusiasm. And finally, the Columbia Park venue is an ideal place with plenty of space and parking. JVA

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