2018 September - Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge - Eric Roussin

[Eric Roussin]

This year’s Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge was another success. Rob McMurren, Jason Steeves, and I teamed up once again to run this multi-venue contest in Waterloo, Edmonton, and Ottawa. All combined, 25 competitors took part, including three women (yay!). Due to scheduling constraints, we each hosted our venues on separate days. This write-up will mostly talk about my experiences at the Ottawa venue.

As Rob’s event was underway on Friday night, I hosted a children’s grip sport contest. 17 kids took part, all between the ages of 5 and 11. I divided the kids into four groups as fairly as I could. The events were maximum squeeze on a dynamometer, Last Kid Standing with the IronMind Hub, and a 10-item medley. For the medley, I upped the weights on certain implements as I progressed between age groups. Running a contest of this size with kids is in some ways fun, but in other ways not so fun. You can imagine how loud and hectic things got. I got everything done in two hours. The highlight for me was seeing my 9-year old son Alec lift 25 lbs with the IronMind Hub!

One of the fun things about a multi-venue contest is that you don’t know what weights are being attempted and lifted in other venues. Though the Waterloo contest wrapped up on Friday, I did not see the results until after the Ottawa contest was done (so as not to give anyone in my venue an unfair advantage). It all adds to the excitement, in my opinion.

The Ottawa venue had competitors in every division. The sole first-time competitor was Darrell Steffensen, whose little brother Keith has been competing in my contests for the past couple of years. Darrell lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and he runs a lot of armwrestling tournaments out there. He’s been looking to host some grip contests as well, so his attendance was just as much to learn about how to host a contest as it was to actually compete. It would be awesome to get a grip sport scene going in Manitoba – it would be one step closer to getting the sport across all of Canada. Joe Sullivan once again made the trip up from New York to represent the US, despite being under the weather in the days leading up to the contest.

First up was the Gold Bar. Dan Fleming was hoping to set the overall world record in this event (he already held the 83 kg class record). On his second attempt, he lifted 75.75 lbs, which increased the class record. But things didn’t go his way on his third and fourth attempts, so the overall world record will have to wait for another day. Justin Major did very well, with a top lift of 77.95 lbs! He had never even trained with it. I lifted 63 lbs, just about exactly what I lifted in last year’s contest. I hadn’t devoted a tremendous amount of time training this lift, so I was satisfied with this performance.

The second event was the 2” Crusher. I expected to do well in this event, and luckily this is what happened. I lifted 229 lbs on my fourth attempt. It actually seemed easier than my third attempt (which was 227 lbs). I think I just had a better chalk game going. I feel like I could have lifted a bit more, but probably not enough to take the overall record. Justin and Joe also lifted more than 220, which made for a very competitive event.

Next up was the MoonTop. I was not confident. I find the second generation MoonTop to be much harder to lift than the original one. My goal was 35 lbs, which would have been a PR. And I got it! But Joe impressed everyone by lifting 43!

For the Silver Bullet, I knew that a successful hold with a CoC #3.5 would be required in order to have a shot at placing high in the overall standings. In my effort to get my hold underway as quickly as possible so as not to burn energy on the set, I settled for a very poor positioning of the bullet. It was nowhere in near as far as it should have been. Nevertheless, I managed to clamp down hard and hold it for 12+ seconds -- a contest PR and the top result for the venue.

By Sunday evening I had received the results from the two other venues, and was happy to discover that I had finished in first place in the 105 kg class, and was proud to see Justin take first overall.

Now comes the task of mailing the mini-anvils to all of the top three finishers. Then, training will focus on KING KONG!

[anwnate]

Great write up...and congrats on another successful comp, your placing and on the Jrs contest.  Must have been like nailing jello to a tree.

[Eric Roussin]

I forgot to mention some of the post-contest feats! Justin, Joe, and I had fun with the 172-lb anvil. I told Joe that I had never attempted to walk with it, out of fear of dropping it on my foot. Without hesitation, he picked it up and took several steps. Then Justin did the same. Not to be outdone, I did the same, but unlike them, I didn't hold it to my side. I waddled with it. It's scary, because there's no telling how that thing will bounce when it hits the floor!

We all then tried to lift the same anvil by the face using a two-hand pinch. It's about 4.5" across. I couldn't budge it (and didn't feel close). Joe got closer, and Justin got it to float. I was hugely impressed. I told Justin that if he manages a full lift in this fashion, I'll inscribe his name on the anvil. I'll then do the same for anyone else who does it in the future.

[Eric Roussin]

4 minutes ago, anwnate said:

 Must have been like nailing jello to a tree.

That's an understatement!

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, Eric Roussin said:

I forgot to mention some of the post-contest feats! Justin, Joe, and I had fun with the 172-lb anvil. I told Joe that I had never attempted to walk with it, out of fear of dropping it on my foot. Without hesitation, he picked it up and took several steps. Then Justin did the same. Not to be outdone, I did the same, but unlike them, I didn't hold it to my side. I waddled with it. It's scary, because there's no telling how that thing will bounce when it hits the floor!

We all then tried to lift the same anvil by the face using a two-hand pinch. It's about 4.5" across. I couldn't budge it (and didn't feel close). Joe got closer, and Justin got it to float. I was hugely impressed. I told Justin that if he manages a full lift in this fashion, I'll inscribe his name on the anvil. I'll then do the same for anyone else who does it in the future.

You’ve got some awesome grip toys bro! Awesome right up and can’t wait to see you all again!

[Kluv#0]

Congrats Eric on another outstanding performance- 229lb is monster pull on 2" crusher. I like how you embrace a wide variety of grip implements. Very courageous:) and cool to host 17 children ages 5-11- so much better for them than being on the IPad or laptop. Hopefully, someday Vancouver, B.C. will have a venue for the multi- grip contest so I can drive up and take part.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Kluv#0 said:

Congrats Eric on another outstanding performance- 229lb is monster pull on 2" crusher. I like how you embrace a wide variety of grip implements. Very courageous:) and cool to host 17 children ages 5-11- so much better for them than being on the IPad or laptop. Hopefully, someday Vancouver, B.C. will have a venue for the multi- grip contest so I can drive up and take part.

We would all be in for a run for our money If Uncle Greshy invades Canada!!! WATCH OUT BROTHERS!!!

[riccardomagni]

On 9/10/2018 at 10:55 AM, Eric Roussin said:

This year’s Cross-Canada Grip Sport Challenge was another success. Rob McMurren, Jason Steeves, and I teamed up once again to run this multi-venue contest in Waterloo, Edmonton, and Ottawa. All combined, 25 competitors took part, including three women (yay!). Due to scheduling constraints, we each hosted our venues on separate days. This write-up will mostly talk about my experiences at the Ottawa venue.

As Rob’s event was underway on Friday night, I hosted a children’s grip sport contest. 17 kids took part, all between the ages of 5 and 11. I divided the kids into four groups as fairly as I could. The events were maximum squeeze on a dynamometer, Last Kid Standing with the IronMind Hub, and a 10-item medley. For the medley, I upped the weights on certain implements as I progressed between age groups. Running a contest of this size with kids is in some ways fun, but in other ways not so fun. You can imagine how loud and hectic things got. I got everything done in two hours. The highlight for me was seeing my 9-year old son Alec lift 25 lbs with the IronMind Hub!

One of the fun things about a multi-venue contest is that you don’t know what weights are being attempted and lifted in other venues. Though the Waterloo contest wrapped up on Friday, I did not see the results until after the Ottawa contest was done (so as not to give anyone in my venue an unfair advantage). It all adds to the excitement, in my opinion.

The Ottawa venue had competitors in every division. The sole first-time competitor was Darrell Steffensen, whose little brother Keith has been competing in my contests for the past couple of years. Darrell lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and he runs a lot of armwrestling tournaments out there. He’s been looking to host some grip contests as well, so his attendance was just as much to learn about how to host a contest as it was to actually compete. It would be awesome to get a grip sport scene going in Manitoba – it would be one step closer to getting the sport across all of Canada. Joe Sullivan once again made the trip up from New York to represent the US, despite being under the weather in the days leading up to the contest.

First up was the Gold Bar. Dan Fleming was hoping to set the overall world record in this event (he already held the 83 kg class record). On his second attempt, he lifted 75.75 lbs, which increased the class record. But things didn’t go his way on his third and fourth attempts, so the overall world record will have to wait for another day. Justin Major did very well, with a top lift of 77.95 lbs! He had never even trained with it. I lifted 63 lbs, just about exactly what I lifted in last year’s contest. I hadn’t devoted a tremendous amount of time training this lift, so I was satisfied with this performance.

The second event was the 2” Crusher. I expected to do well in this event, and luckily this is what happened. I lifted 229 lbs on my fourth attempt. It actually seemed easier than my third attempt (which was 227 lbs). I think I just had a better chalk game going. I feel like I could have lifted a bit more, but probably not enough to take the overall record. Justin and Joe also lifted more than 220, which made for a very competitive event.

Next up was the MoonTop. I was not confident. I find the second generation MoonTop to be much harder to lift than the original one. My goal was 35 lbs, which would have been a PR. And I got it! But Joe impressed everyone by lifting 43!

For the Silver Bullet, I knew that a successful hold with a CoC #3.5 would be required in order to have a shot at placing high in the overall standings. In my effort to get my hold underway as quickly as possible so as not to burn energy on the set, I settled for a very poor positioning of the bullet. It was nowhere in near as far as it should have been. Nevertheless, I managed to clamp down hard and hold it for 12+ seconds -- a contest PR and the top result for the venue.

By Sunday evening I had received the results from the two other venues, and was happy to discover that I had finished in first place in the 105 kg class, and was proud to see Justin take first overall.

Now comes the task of mailing the mini-anvils to all of the top three finishers. Then, training will focus on KING KONG!

Great job Eric!  Fantastic results and great PR's.  Thanks for leading the grip scene north of the border.  Someday I will visit and participate.

[Buccos1]

On 9/10/2018 at 1:55 PM, Eric Roussin said:

As Rob’s event was underway on Friday night, I hosted a children’s grip sport contest. 17 kids took part, all between the ages of 5 and 11. I divided the kids into four groups as fairly as I could. The events were maximum squeeze on a dynamometer, Last Kid Standing with the IronMind Hub, and a 10-item medley. For the medley, I upped the weights on certain implements as I progressed between age groups. Running a contest of this size with kids is in some ways fun, but in other ways not so fun. You can imagine how loud and hectic things got. I got everything done in two hours. The highlight for me was seeing my 9-year old son Alec lift 25 lbs with the IronMind Hub!

Cool write-up and congrats!  The above is awesome to read.  My 3 year old is starting to show interest in my grippers and is routinely starting to pinch grip his books and toys.