2017 September - Cross Canada Grip Contest - Rob McMurren

September 10, 2017

Friday I hosted the Waterloo leg of the Cross Canada grip contest. This was the first time I have hosted a contest. We had 11 competitors at the Waterloo venue. While it was nice to not have to drive to a comp, it is a lot of work. I have a lot of respect for all the guys who run comps regularly. Luckily my wife has embraced my crazy obsession and supported it fully. This definitely won't be a one and done situation..

The first event was the gold bar. Which I pulled 61.2 which was enough to tie Josh Henze for first. I mad a mistake and tried for 70 instead of just going for the win with a 2.5 jump on my last attempt.

The second was the crusher which I pulled 178 which is a great lift for me. Too bad Rick Heidebrecht came and pulled 205 Rick is a massive man, extremely good arm wrestler and a really good guy. This as his first contest.

The third event was the hub, which I hate but I am pretty good at. Again I made a mistake in my attempts. I pulled 66 to tie for second and went to 70 for my final attempt which I missed. Mark Lancina pulled 68 to win the event I should of went for the tie. After our attempts I got the 70 off the floor, Gus Bush stepped up and pulled it clean. Gus is a beast.

The last event was silver bullet. I dislike grippers and had a 15 second run with a #3 Rick and Mike Murray were both over 30 seconds.

We also ran a 16 item medley which was won by Josh henze who completed 14 items. Me, Mike Murray and Rick were tied at 13. Josh took home a loading pin built by Andrew Dube for the win.

I felt it was a great night. We had 6 first time competitors who all had a good showing and all showed interest in competing again. Every contestant in Waterloo left with a prize from gripnbend.ca, either a shirt or hat. Jeff King also donated a supplement package for a door prize.

Thanks to my training partners Gus Bush, Andrew Dube and Colin Dore for supplying equipment and the platform. Thanks also to Josh Henze for coming the longest distance, judging, loading and bringing Yuengling.

Also thanks to Eric Roussin for doing the bulk of the work on promoting grip sport in Canada