Review
Brent:
Although we only had seven entries, the contest was really good. Spectators told me they did not mind at all that it was only seven. The show ran fast, under 3 hours. Huge crowd, lots of cheering. Al Block won again, followed by me and then Travis Bloomer. Travis is a guy to watch, once he gets more event time in…..yikes! Curt did really well, being novice and light weight, and still placeing high in most events. Jamin impressed all with his Yoke, as Sandor did. The rolling thunder challenge was pretty good, won by a fellow from Morris, whos name I do not have, I think he lifted 200lbs. One spectator even did the lift with his teeth. Thanks to Vern for making it run so smooth, and all the other helpers as well!
Vern (Ref):
Having competed in strongman events was a huge asset in being a referee for an event. I am thankful there were a lot of knowledgeable people to help as it made my job easier. My main objective was to make the athletes determine the outcome and not the referee and rulebook. I believe I succeeded in this area.
Prizes
Open ($700, $350, $175) $75 per event win
220lb ($400, $200, $100) $75 per event win

Log Medley
Review
Brent:
Al got to go first, and not one could beat him in the log press. He got all four pretty fast. I should have got the 260, not sure what went wrong. Possibly cause I tried to go to fast. Felt kinda weird to lift 4 totally different logs.
Vern (Ref):
This event ran very smoothly with Al being the only person to complete all 4 logs.
Rules
Clean and press 4 different logs as fast as you can. 200, 220, 240, 260 lbs. This is for time to each each log. Fastest time wins. Will be on tires Competitor presses log overhead. Ref will call good, then it can be put down. If competitor does not wait for refs signal, rep must me re-done. If the competitor does not control the log on the way down, 5 second penalty. This is at refs discretion. We do not want any logs to break. Time will be recorded at each good lift. If a log does break, we will use a 2" thick bar in place of the 200lb log, and use the remaining logs for 220, 240, and 260.

Conans Wheel
Review
Brent:
Curt started this event, and went over 1 lap. Jamin went next and was able to better that by a bit. Needless to say, I was getting worried. I went 2nd last, went 1.5 laps for the lead. But, Al was last and he did what he needed to pass my mark. 600lbs felt light to me, thinking back to when we did 450 last year and did not go as far as here.
Vern (Ref):
I let everyone take there time for mental preparation and to start at there own time. Everyone had basically started this event in under 30 seconds from when they first approached the wheel. Al had instructed me to watch for people hanging the bar on their belt. This item was mentioned to every athlete prior to their turn. I provided verbal encouragement for everyone in this event. Al won this event by carrying the bar a bit further than his nearest rival (Brent).
Rules
600lbs in weights Buffer zone at the start, weight can be picked up again if dropped with-in this area. All competitors have 60 sec to start event. If weight is not picked up and advanced in this time the event is over. Distance will be marked at the first put down.

Hercules Hold
Review
Brent:
This event did not go as planned. One quad arrived very late (the show was basically starting) and we had hardly any test time. Nick Enns tested it with one person on each quad, and said it was hard, but dooable. I choose to add one more person on each quad (115ish lbs?), mistake number two. The first competitors really had a hard time, and we were not sure weather to restart the event or not, but we went ahead. I only made 5 seconds. Curt won the light weight class here with almost 8 seconds, and Al went for 16.
Vern (ref):
It appears that the Hercules hold will always have some subjectivity to it based on the 3 times this event has run in Manitoba this year ( Dauphin, Lac du bonnet, and Altona). This event requires grip strength, overall strength, coordination, balance and a little bit of luck for a person to succeed. Having said that I believe the event was run/set-up as good as it could have been. I was willing to restart an athlete if I felt that there was a definite pull to one side when starting. Once the athlete was ready I very quickly said 1,2,3 start as I didn't want any pauses from the athlete or 2 brakemen. Al won this event by outlasting Curt.
Rules
With vehicles on ramps. Handles will be from a cable cross over machine (they will roll). Competitor will stand between the vehicles, handles will be handed to him, then vehicles will tighten up, but keep brakes on. Competitor will be asked if he is ready. On the refs go, vehicles release brakes, and time begins. No restrictions on how the competitor stands, but must be in line with vehicles. No dropping low and letting chains grab onto ramps.

Yoke Partial Squat
Review
Brent:
First time we tried an event like this. In retrospect, it took kinda long, and we never realized that some of the lifts would be so small once the weight got heavier. We had to put an extra mat under Sandor, which helped a bit, but probably made the lift akward for him. Highlights included Sandors nose bleed while setting up. (Is that a hightlight? Some spectators thought so!) Jamin not needing to make 1,440, but doing it anyway. Al got the whole place clapping as Jamin set up and then proceeded to make the lift. Impressive!
Vern (Ref):
If I would of gotten paid for being the referee I would of earned my money here. This event although looking easy to score was very difficult. After the first and second rounds I realized a lockout would look differently for everyone. Feet & hand placement, chest size, speed of lift all contributed to variables in the lift. Additionally every athlete had a slightly different lifting style. Although probably applicable to everyone I realized on Sandor that the yoke clearance was decreasing on every lift. Sandor started standing on the floor at 640 with a 3-4 cm lift clearance. Sandor ended standing on 2 cm of mats and ending at 1340 with about a 1/2 cm of lift clearance. For the last few lifts I had 2 extra sets of eyes to help me. For this event I had to see the weight off the ground, and a lock out. Lifting the weight off the ground and falling forward with it resulted in a failed lift. Jamin reached 1340 in the fewest lifts to win the event and proved why he was the winner in this event by doing 1440. Travis & Sandor were second and third with 1340.
Rules
Partial Squat with yoke. about 4-5 inches Weight will start at 640lbs, increase in 100lb increments. Competitor may skip any lift. Except 640 In case of tie, competitor with least amount of lifts will win. We will determine the what height of person, takes what height of pins, and will adjust for each person No suits allowed. Competitor has 60 seconds to complete lift Must lock out the weight, and wait for ok signal from ref. Competitor must be in control of yoke.

Tire Flip
Review
Brent:
I had a hunch Al and Me would be going against each other in this one, and wanted very badly to win. With Jamin between us, we started, and I heard his first flip hit the ground well before mine. With every flip I made, I could hear the sound of his flip. Always before mine, but getting closer together. By flip 4 I think our timing was the same, then, on 6 I heard mine slam into the cement first. I looked over, and saw he was closer to the line then me, and though he would need one less flip to cross. But, I was wrong, and narrowly squeked by for the win. The arena was very loud during this one. And glad we could give them an exciting finish like that. The tire was a good weight, some of the competitors stuggled with it. Travis did a really good job in the 1st heat.
Vern (Ref):
2 heats of tire flipping was exciting to watch. Brent beat Al to win this event.
Rules
800lb tire flip, 70 feet, 3 competitors at a time. (Will work out to 7-9 flips). Tire starts flat on ground. No tacky.