2005 April - Pittsburgh's Strongest Man - Rick Walker

[Rick Walker]

Well-I made it back home in one piece-despite the psychotic ramblings of 1 James "smitty" Smith and his mini-me side kick Mark. Let me tell you-Mark is the strongest young dude I have had the pleasure of ever meeting. And-he is humble, and one hell of a funny dude, which makes it all the better.

Competing from the Crew was a tight 230 James Smith and 199-pound Pocket Hercules = Mark Bailey the 18 year old phenom. Jedd is out with some injuries that are healing fast.

The contest was the quickest contest I have ever been in. At 1 time, there were log presses, farmers walks, and tire flips going on at the same time. The event had over 50 competitors and took 2 hours tops to run through 5 events. It was an endurance show-and it took its toll on the big boys. I remember at one point seeing 2 or 3 super heavies sprawled out on the floor gasping for air and sweating buckets. Mark did farmers walk about 3 or 4 minutes after he set down his log. It was CRAZY! Not a good show for the big man and if the weights of the implements were any heavier- there would have been a ton of injuries and people not finishing! This was a light and quick man's battle today-and it was a zapper.

Mark "Pocket Hercules" Bailey took a very close (and we think the scoring was off!) 2nd place in the open middle weights. The point difference between first and 2nd must have been 1 or less! James "smitty" Smith took 5th in the open light heavy weights, I took 3rd in the open light heavies, and Johnny "Steel" Mannino opened a giant can of whoop ass and took 1st in the Open Super Heavies.

Events:

Log Press: 60 second time limit.

Mark's log was 210 and he made short work of it-banging out 11 reps in 60 seconds-many of them with hardly a push from his legs!

Mine and Smitty's log was 240. Smitty managed to get 1 good rep, but couldnt get set to get another.

I got 2 reps, but missed a 3rd on 2 or 3 tries. I ordered a log March 7th, and the bastard never made it here in time to use it. The log is MUCH different from the axle or the bar and takes some major getting used to.

Mannino got 12 or 13 with 240.

Farmers: 60 seconds to go 50' out, turn, and back. This event was out of control. The weight on the farmers spin, almost like the bar was too thin for the plates. Lots of guys bit the big one, crashing down HARD and sprawling out across the arena floor. The floor was slick, and the implements were nasty. The turn took a lot of dudes out of the contest. One guy crashed so hard, we though he had broken something! His implement almost took out the guy beside him. But, he got up and finished.

Mark won this event I believe. His weight was 210 an arm. I missed it cause I was doing the log press at the time.

Mannino, me, and Smitty used 240 an arm.

Smitty got it 50' down, but dropped it once from the start and then set it down past 50' to end his run. They implemented a "2 set down only rule" for the event.

I believe I took second in this event-almost losing it in the turn, but then turning on the afterburners to pass my competitor and beat him by a good 6 feet or more at the end. Not sure of my time.

Mannino won this event in his weight class.

Tire Flip: We all used a 700 pound tire for 90'.

Mark had a good run, taking second I believe. When he was done he dry heaved 3 times so hard, I thought he was convulse. On a side note, I cut just about the greatest ass music about 10 minutes prior to this. Mark got in the way of its pleasant smell and dry heaved twice, causing him to tear up. It was a shining moment for sure.

I had the 1st place time by 6 flips in, only to have the tire slide out from in front of my not once, but TWICE and put me into 4th with this event. I was pretty pisssed cause I was kicking this tire's ass. Finished in 50.75 seconds.

Smitty brought in at 50.45 seconds! Beating me by picking up his pace at the end! It was a great run and I was screaming at the top of my lungs for the crazy big man!

Mannino took this event as well. The super heavies he was against were sucking wind big time on this!

Keg Carry: I never, EVER want to see another event like this in a strongman contest. 5-170 pound kegs. Each one had to be carried 30' out, then you had to sprint 30' back to get the next one. Lots of crashes on this as well. The thin guys were smoking this event, coming in in under 30 seconds! This event put the icing on the big dudes. Many of them were walking by the 4th or 5th keg.

Mark took second I believe, hammering out a good time and sprinting like a mad man with a fire cracker up his izzass. He is in sick shape.

I pretty much held back from sprinting cause I knew if I did, the deadlift would KILL me. I think I got the worst time on this-which put me in 3rd overall instead of second. Thinking back, I should have went balls out-but I am not a runner. Running is for skinny dudes who eat salad and drink flavored coffees. I JOGGED back to the kegs-but I never fell once. The dudes that were sprinting balls out fell ass over tin cup a few times. Good show!

Smitty put on a good show, beating my time by about 5 seconds!

Again, Mannino cleaned up and won this event. Bastard.

Deadlift for reps: By now, we were all smoked. We had no time to eat, no time to recover, and most of us were looking like zombies. I knew it was a bad thing going into the deadlift-but 505 was waiting at the promise land.

Mark's weight was 415. The Pocket Hercules strapped up to the bar and in a show of strength and GRIT banged out 13 monster reps! Then came the high light of the event. Mark went for his 14th, and his ability as an all around bad ass athlete came out of him. As the weight was nearing lockout, he lost his balance and the weight crashed forward on him. Well, he was strapped to the weight, so naturally, he went with it. When the weight hit the floor, Mark was catapulted forward right at the judge, but being strapped in, it was like a dog on a leash when he hit the straps. So, in less then 1/10 of a second, Mark somehow tucked his chin and performed a perfect front flip/roll, landing unscathed on his back, the bar behind him, with his hands still strapped to it. The best part was the look of absolute horror on the face of the judge. She nearly fell out of her chair! Then, just like it was nothing, Mark stood up, and bowed to the crowd. Mark is the real deal.

Mine and Smitty's weight was 505. I had an off day and only managed 9 reps. I was pretty pissed since I had done 8 with 525, but the pace of the event had me smoking. I took second in this event. Next time I will wear straps.

Smitty shocked us all and deserved the DIESEL AWARD for a stunning 5 reps. After 4, he walked away from the bar. But Mark and I would have none of it, and we talked him right back to it to pull his 5th with NO straps! His best to date was 1. DIESEL BABY!!! GO GET YOU RESPECT!

Big boy Mannino banged out 14 with 505 I believe. That was the best pull for his class.

The guy that won mine and Smitty's class also took the strongest overall title. He was a tall, fairly lean fella, with garden hoses in his arms for veins. He told me he was a long distance runner before getting into strongman. Go figure. He won every event-even doing 13 reps on the deadlift. He had the total package-was in sick shape, but was strong as well. I learned a ton just watching the guy-he wore khaki shorts and t-shirt and only put a belt on for the deadlift. He was truly a strongman.

Afterwards I watched Jedd put the Inch overhead again. Pretty easy. A couple of other dudes picked it up. Then, Mannino strolls over and puts it over his head. It wasnt a push press my friends-it was a strict 1-arm press over his head. SICK SICK SICK. When he gets the strength to clean it-the clean and press will make Mark Henery's look WEAK. Mannino is a freak of nature and strong as a bull!

Now I need pain meds and beer. My neck is so sore I can barely turn it, and my shoulder is smoked. Back feels good-but I feel like I competed, which is the goal.

Overall it was a good time. I learned a lot, got to hang out with my best friends, and even had a nice sit down dinner with the ass clowns afterwards. Mark tried to pick up the waitress, and Jedd pissed her off. It was damn fine stuff!

What did Mark have? The Crack of Dawn, easy, with sausage? WTF???

Jedd, when you read this, you know what to do boy: FLIP IT!

-Rick Walker

[gamidon]

Great Job Guys. Nice write up too!!!!

[ryaneverk2]

Awesome write-up, Rick. Congratulations to you all, and especially to Mark and John for being such beasts.

What did Mark have?  The Crack of Dawn, easy, with sausage?  WTF???     

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LOL.

[smitty]

I am DIESEL boys!!!

Just kidding . Will write more later - we,re still on the road

[smitty]

Don't forget about Jedd "I drink fruity drinks with umbrellas in them" Johnson getting wasted at Rick's sisters house on 5 chocolate martinis and singing along with Mr T "treat yo mama right, treat her right"

Dude, what an awesome weekend

BTW picked up my new sick viscous grip machine - video soon!!!

[Rick Walker]

Jedd was drunk as hell and hung over this morning.

What a light weight.

[Mikael Siversson]

Very entertaining reading Rick. Well done to you all.

[dadams]

love it thats what its all about

[Bill Piche]

Congrats to everyone!

[Alex]

Hey all, new to the forum, one of the Diesel Crew pointed me this way (Smitty I believe it was). Strongest Man in Pgh was the first time I saw a comp, great stuff, lots of strong guys out there and virtually no ego. I had a blast, going to try to check out the Diesel Crew at the Kumite Classic coming up as long as work doesn't get in the way

[Patrik_F]

Cool report.

[gazza]

Rick

Awesome report and another great showing by the Diesel Crew.

Congrats to all.

[DuTCH]

Nice report, sounds like a lot of fun with the DIESEL crew!! You have some pics to go with this report??! Or vids?

[Rick Walker]

We have lots of video. No still pics though. The contest moved so quickly that it was impossible to get everyone. My wife video taped as much as she could, but she missed Mark's farmers cause I was doing the log press at the same time. She also only got a few seconds of smitty's farmers.

The way the contest was moving-there were 6 competitors going at the same time. Hard to catch everything.

-Rick Walker

[pexter]

correction Rick.I got 16 reps on the Deadlift.

I had a real good time.Was nice seein' all the Grip guys agian.I was real happy winning my frist contest,and being my frist strongman contest ever.I feel I have plenty of more strength,but I need to work on having a bigger gas tank.I will train for more of my endurance.At 290 I get downwinded fast,and having asthma doesn't help either.

[Dan Cenidoza]

Nice showing fellas, nice write up Rick.

[DAN PRAYDIS]

nice job guys got a bunch of strong guys up there in PA

[pexter]

Oh Yeah I forgot.Really nice write up Rick!

I'd really like to see some of that video your wife took.

[foggymountainmuscle]

Pexter's performance does not suprise me. In past conversations I've had with him, his causal lifts are mind boggling. I was sure he'd dominate at this level of compeition.

[suterp]

Congrats, guys! Sounds like Pexter mopped the floor with his competition. John, does that win qualify you for Nationals, and if so are you going?

[twig]

Now I need pain meds and beer

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Beer IS pain meds!

Awesome stuff

[smitty]

First off I have several thanks for this one:

- Thanks to Ricks sister for letting us stay at her house - she was very nice

- Thanks to Rick (and Amy) for everything - too many things to mention

- Thanks to my Crew for pushing me to do this comp, wasn't my best - but I hit PR's and had an awesome time.

- Thanks to Gary Udit for allowing us to run the "World Series of Grip" at the comp.

- Thanks to everyone else for the kind words

Log Press:

One of my worst events (along with many others) - cleaning that log is freaking easy - but the press is another story. Locked the first rep, and another 2 reps after that (60 second time limit) but could get my feet stable for the last 2 reps.

Farmers:

My support strength needs a lot of work. Dropped at the 50' (cone) mark turned around to take the trip back (not sure if I would have made it - this weakness will be eliminated - trust me) - but the judge said I was done - because of the 1 set down rule.

Tire:

My best event - did good - no problems except for conditioning. For this competition none of us did anything specific - because none of us planned on competing - and Mark has been working lately and also had not done any specific training. I decided to compete after everyone's encouragement.

Kegs

No problem - freaking easy - but conditioning was a factor - took it easy - didn't want to be one of the dooshes falling over the kegs and taking a ride

Deads:

This topped off an awesome day - I told the judge - awesome guy - seemed to be in front of me all day - Brian ?? - NASS state chair for ??? - (Jedd will fill in the blanks) that I probably wouldn't get a rep - because my best ever (and this was just recently) was 500 for 1 rep - and since we had just done 4 events in under 1 hour 45 minutes - I was sure that my posterior chain was fried (because it felt it).

Hit the first rep - and at the top - took a huge breath - down and stroked another one and so on....for 4 - I felt estatic. Walked away and Rick and Mark grabbed a shoulder and steered me right back to the bar - FREAKING A - time was running out so I just grabbed the bar - and purple faced it and neck veined it back up - I was on cloud 9.

A few key notes:

- Jedd has been training crazy lately and with no specific training for this contest - I know he would have done awesome in his class.

- Brad - is another sick phenom in our Crew - and this kid is going to make his mark at TPS Mass (July) this year.

- TPS is coming up in July this year and we are rolling in 5 deep for the contest (6 if Rick comes) - and we'll be training like madmen for this one - as we go every year - and Murph is a good friend of ours.

- Gary Udit runs a tight contest - and you better be ready - 5 events - 50 competitors - 2 hours!!! Nice!

- Videos soon....

Edited April 25, 2005 by smitty

[underdawg]

Way to go guys!

[Rick Walker]

Great post Smitty!

Of everyone I saw compete, I was the most impressed with you bro. Considering your life has been up-side-down and side-ways for the past few months (planning and organizing GGC, keeping the CREW site up and running, working your normal job, AND raising 3 beautiful little girls) I can't believe how well you performed. It was an honor to wear the DIESEL shirt that day-and you did it all with a nice lung cold as well. The whole time smitty was flipping the tire, he was coughing his head off!

Watching you deadlift on the tape still shakes me up a bit. I get chills bro. I know deadlift isnt your strong point, but you stepped up and GOT IT DONE like a champion. No excuses, No regrets.

The Diesel Crew moto is simple: GO EARN YOUR RESPECT! You, my friend, earned everyone's respect on that day.

For those who are still thinking about competing-get out there and do it. Nothing bonds people together like struggle, and when you struggle and strain under the same weights together, you learn together. I have not known Mark or Brad for long-but I now can call them both friend. I could hear them both-along with Smitty, and Jedd from 20 yards away at the grip table, screaming for me in every event. That lifted me up. I think it lifted us all up!

My entry form for TPS goes out this week. I already have the time off from work. I hope you guys decide to make the trip for the Mountaineer-looks like it will be one hell of a good time.

Mannino-with so much going on, she missed all of your events. She didnt get Mark's or Smitty's keg run, or Mark's farmers. Just got a little of Smitty's tire. She was sick as hell and I am surprised she got my footage!

Awesome weekend. Sucks I have to go back to work today.

-Rick Walker

[Lyle]

Congrats to you all, sounds like a pretty cool day.