Britain’s Strongest Removalist

At this year’s Movers & Storers show, (taking place on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd November in Hangar 42, Bruntingthorpe) Britannia are sponsoring the first ever ‘Britain’s Strongest Removalist’ competition that will be held on the Tuesday. Andy Shotbolt of Britannia Reeves, is the brains behind this fantastic and exciting new competition. Andy tells us “this is something I’ve wanted to do for years, and during a light-hearted discussion with Charlotte Parslow (Animo Events) who was looking to bring in a new event for the show I mentioned the idea of wanting to organise a strongest man competition, and the rest is history.”

There will be 3 events during the competition with the points from each round being toted up to find an overall winner; the competition will be overseen by Faye Jordan, a professional Powerlifter who also organises ‘Britain’s Strongest Woman’. The next ‘Britain’s Strongest Woman event is being sponsored by Britannia Reeves.

Event Information and useful tips

Dead Lift

Maximum time limit – 60 seconds and the number of ‘good lifts’ will be announced at the end of the attempt. The number of ‘good’ dead-lifts will count toward your final score along with your time. The adjudicators decision is final.

Weights & Equipment – All the equipment has been purchased especially for this competition.

It will be checked prior to the event commencing by Faye Jordan and a member of the Animo Events team

The weight to be lifted is 200 kilos. It is comprised of an upright piano, dishwasher and a washing machine. The load is securely strapped to the machine.

The floor for the entrant is non-slip.

Prior to commencing, each entrant will receive a full explanation of both the equipment and the event from Faye.

The Lifts

Each lift must be declared ‘good’ by Faye and they will be recorded by a member of the Animo Events team. A bad lift will be clearly declared by Faye so the competitor is aware it won’t count for their final score. Wide stance dead lifts will not be allowed.

Personal Equipment

A figure of eight strap will be supplied if required (Dead Lift straps will not be allowed).

We advise you wear shorts and leggings and / or long socks.

Warm Up

We will provide weights, matting and a dedicated area for you to warm up prior to this event. We recommend a 20-30 minute warm up period.

The Lorry Load

This event will take place outside of the building.

The object of the event is to load as quickly as possible five pre-filled bags of sand to the floor of the lorry. The bags will each have a progressively increasing weight with the lightest furthest away and the heaviest closest to the truck.

60 kg bag will be 10 meters away

70 kg bag will be 8 meters away

80 kg bag will be 6 meters away

90 kg bag will be 4 meters away

100 kg bag will be 2 meters away

The Equipment

The sandbags have been purchased specifically for this event. They are manufactured by Cerburus and are separately lined for additional strength. The filling is simply builder’s sand.

The Truck Pull

For this event we will be using an 18 ton / 5 container door removal lorry. Don’t worry – it won’t be loaded…so you will be pulling just over 7.5 tons from stationary over a 40 meter measured distance crossing a line to start and one to finish. There will also be a driver in the vehicle to ensure your safety. It is essential that you keep the truck rolling as it is rare to see anyone restart once the truck has stopped.

This event is a signature ‘World’s Strongest Man’ discipline and requires strength and stamina. Just to make it that little bit more difficult we will set a 2 minute time limit!

You shouldn’t need any warm up for this event but you will need to make sure you follow Faye’s instructions to the letter before setting off. Actually the pre-event talk is compulsory!

The harness is supplied and will have been checked pre-event by Faye and one of the Animo Events team. We request you wear or use the following:

·         Rock climbing shoes (rubber soled boots will be allowed but make sure they are not worn on the soles)

·         Chalk for hands (supplied) – gloves won’t be allowed

·         Knee pads (it’s surprising how many people attempt this but injure their knees)

·         Long trousers

Again Faye will raise her arm when ready to start, once she drops her arm the time starts. If the truck crosses the line she will blow a whistle to indicate the timer should be stopped.

If she wants to stop the event at any point (if she feels to continue might be dangerous for you) she will blow a whistle to indicate the event is finished.

We ask you to use common-sense especially on this event. If you feel unwell or unable to complete the pull then stop – don’t continue and risk personal injury.

One of the confirmed entry’s is Sam Pierre from Britannia Reeves. Charlotte says “We were hoping to get 5-6 competitors on the day, but we may end up beating that as it’s still pretty early to be getting entries.” In the photos you can see Andy Shotbolt (pulling the vehicle) and Matt Ede (shown on the Dead Lift) testing out the events to make sure they were achievable. Unfortunately, neither of them could be persuaded to take part in the actual competition.