It was a stressful morning for us all. I didn't have much of an appetite and only got an oat shake in for breakfast. I played a bit of Diablo to relax and went for a short walk with Kathryn.
We had to be there for 10.30 and set off at 9.30 so that we were a little early. The organiser, Big Al, went through all the events with us and then we sorted out the running order.
The field was 18 men in total.
We warmed up in time for the 12 noon kick off.
First event - log lift:
This was using an 80kg IFSA spec log, and was done with two logs, so that the athletes were lifting head to head.
First up was Brian with another chap. He made a fast first rep, and fought an impressive second rep for a PB. 2reps
Second up was Wayne (Deckerz). This was one of only very few occassions that Wayne has lifted a log, and he made 10 easy reps! Excellent stuff, and tied for 2nd place in this event. 10reps
Third up was JP. His log pressing has been particularly impressive recently and he did not disappoint! Every rep he made looked pretty easy, and it was only chronic lack of fitness (
) that held him back. Nevertheless, JP made 6 reps for a 2 rep PB.
Alex and me were the last two up, head to head. Alex's main aim going into the event was to clean the log, as pressing it was unfortunately not likely. Impressively he made 4 good cleans and came pretty close on one of the presses.
The log press felt very good for me, and despite it being the first time trying an IFSA log, I made 7 reps in about 68 seconds for a 2 rep pb.
I overall in that event Wayne placed joint first, I got about 7th place, JP about 10th, Brian joint 15/16th and Alex 18th.
Event two - Yoke and drag:
This was a 220kg yoke for 15m, and then run 15m to drag a 300kg chain 15m.
First up was Alex, who made a quick yoke walk without any drops, and nearly got the chain drag in one go but for falling just before the line. Excellent effort.
Second up was Brian who made a quick yoke walk too (around 16 seconds) and valiently battled with the chain, and almost completed the chain drag in the time limit. Following this event, Brian vomitted!
Third up was JP, whoose yoke walk was easily a pb. The chain drag was easy for him!
I was fourth up. The yoke was slightly unfamiliar for me but I picked up the speed towards the end. The chain was fine, but maybe not as quick as normal. Still a fast time though and I think that I was in the top 4.
Fifth up was Wayne, who was very fast throughout and was just a touch slower than myself.
Third event - Farmers walk:
This was done over a 15m course, with turns at 15m. Max distance in 75seconds with 100kg.
First up was Alex, who made a PB of 30m with the farmers. A good fight for the last 10m or so. Very good effort!
Second up was Brian. Brian has never walked with 100's before and amazingly managed 15m and made the turn, only for the grip to fail just after.
Third up was JP whose farmers walks have been impressive recently, and he didn't disappoint with about 35m (2 turns). Unfortunately he gripped a little too far back on the handles and this worked against him.
Fourth up was Wayne. He had torn the callouses on his right hand in the log press (the silly bugger had done highland games training yesterday and had huge blood blisters on his hand). Never the less he made a respectable 30m with two turns.
I was up last. I didn't like the farmers that much as I found them quite cumbersome. The high pickup was nice but the grip wasn't great so I only made 52m, with three turns. No excuses really. I should have done better. Fourth place I think in the end.
Fourth event - Medley:
This involved carrying and loading a 65kg beer keg onto a 4.5ft platform, carrying a 100kg duck walk 15m, sprint 15m to the tyre, and then flip it 5 times and sprint to the finish.
First up was Alex, who made good time with the keg and duck walk. Now Alex is the tyre flip master and made the 5 flips in no time. Unfortunately there was some confussion about sprinting to the line, and Alex lost about 8 seconds on this. Good time nevertheless!
Second up was Brian, who actually ran with the keg (first time I have seen him move faster than an asmathic ant with heavy shopping), made good time with duck walk. He took a leasurely jog to the tyre and flipped it 5 times to make the distance inside the time limit. Great stuff!
Third up was JP, whose overall time for the medley was superb. He was fast throughout and clocked in at about 50seconds.
Fourth up was Wayne, who like JP made no mistakes and did the whole thing in 42seconds.
Fifth up was me, and at this point I was little fatigued and generally not 100% speedy. I did the course in 45seconds. Again about 4th place I think.
Last event - Atlas stones:
Five stones, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120 kilos, loaded onto a 4.5ft platform. There was about 3m between all the platforms.
First up was Brian, who quickly made the 80 and 90 but due to the brand-newness of the stones (and the layer of dust coating it) couldn't get the 100kg stone off the floor. Good effort!
Second up was Alex, who chose to lift topless in order to shame us all! The first three stones went up in no time, but the 110kg just eluded him. He had two attempts at it that were 95% and 98% the way there.
Third up was JP. He launched his way through the first four stones, lapped the fifth, but it was just too much on the day. Very respectable!
Fourth up was Wayne, who frankly makes the stones look like little pebbles! He was the first man to make all five stones, and received a tremendous applause from the 100+ spectators! A good time also!
Finally I was up. My technique is slightly slow, but quite reliable. I made all five stones in 33 seconds, which I think was the third fastest time.
It took the refs a few minutes to tot up the scores. Final placings were:
Brian - 17th
Alex - 16th
JP - around 8-9th place (apolagies to JP for not remembering),
Wayne - 5th
Me - 3rd.
The great thing was the closeness of the top three. I ended up with 75 point out of a potential 90, but there was only 1 point between the top three. So it could not have been closer!
I got a little trophy, and some suppliments (which I gave to one of JPs mates as they were obviously not vegan).
I am really happy with the result. Five vegans competing the field, and two inside the top 5. I am particularly happy as I didn't expect to do better than 7th!
A grand day out
Jonathan
)
Really impressive! 
