WA Strongest Man @ the Red Hook Brewery

[Ryan Rhodes]

Anybody thinking about going to this contest? It's at the end of June sometime. I had some buddies who went last year and said it was pretty good. The promoter, Steve Spellman is making it out like it's really going to smoke this year. Lots of extra stuff/sponsorship. I don't know if I feel like competing, but either way, it looks like it will be fun.

[Jamie T]

ryan .. I am in and if I can get down .. I will capture runner up to sarge in the 231's as washington states strongest man!!

[Jay O'Neill]

Yep... I should be there as well! 265 pound class... 264.5 to be exact, just like 2 weeks ago.
Thanks for getting out or should I say ooot of my class Jamie... (lil Canadian humor) one less person to worrie about.
Steve does a great Job. He is a competitor and knows how to treat the athletes!

[Ryan Rhodes]

And one more to worry about if I go.

j/k- I highly doubt I'll compete.

Much rather look good in my lawn chair drinking beer and let you guys do all the sweating for me.

[Jay O'Neill]

ha... I should join ya... what the heck am I thinking?

[Jamie T]

bring some gin and me and the GF are in too!!!

[Jay O'Neill]

you're supposed to be workin!

[Ryan Rhodes]

Gin over beer?

You're one strange Canuck.

[MarshallWhite]

I will compete in this if I am off of work. Hopefully now that my hand is healing I will put on a better show than my last performance in WA.

[J. Alexander]

I am hoping to do this one as well, as long as my torn calf heals up properly.

I am giving myself until May 22-25th to make the decision. If I do it, I hope to meet some of you guys there.:) I met a lot of cool guys from here at NorCal.

[Jay O'Neill]

Jamie is not strange... just "refined".
Marshall.... look forward to seeing you at the comp. You put on a great show in Port Townsend!

[Ryan Rhodes]

Where I come from, Gin isn't the drink of choice for the "refined". The only people that drank that stuff lived on the dodgie side of town and mixed it with juice; Layed back, with there minds on their money, and their money on their minds. :)

[Jamie T]

dude.. i mix it with a little vermouth and pink grape friut with just a touch of white grape juice.. shaken and in a martini glas with my pinky extended...fancy!!!

[Ryan Rhodes]

Macho, macho man :)

[Jay O'Neill]

Hey... it must be workin... He took first in Port Townsend.
And there is big differance between Gin and Tonic and Gin and Juice :p

[Steve Spellman]

I've never been known for being on time myself, but if you are planning to compete, please let me know by email or by phone and send in your entry form!

I have about 25 competitors as of Friday, May 27th and I have to limit the total number to 40. Way back when I was looking for a venue 40 athletes seemed like a lot, but with the 'Marunde Strength Athlete Recruitment Program' going so well, there could be more than the remaining 15 just from Sequim!

Here's my Pitch for the Undecided:
The Brewery is very enthusiastic, even though I don't think they really know what to expect.
The waitresses are willing to do a tug-of-war with some strongmen.
I think the crowd will be huge.
Last year we got on KING 5 TV (for all you potential celebs).
I'm not doing the weigh-in (for those who remember last year).
We will have trophies!
I have some supplement sponsors who are very close to saying 'yes' and
It even looks like the athletes will get some free beer at our post contest meal in the pub / restaurant.

There's no money and no swords and the contest will be tough, but I hope you'll all have a good time, even if you just bring your lawn chair and enjoy the show.

[Chris Lee]

hey steve i am definitely planning to compete, and i know for sure that nick, robbie, and brek are all planning to as well. i believe marshall, sarge and jacob will be competing, and then for women callie, kelly, and beth i believe all plan to compete. so thats 10 out of sequim that im pretty sure you can count on. we'll try to get out entry forms in as early as we can.

[Jesse Marunde]

Chirs, don't leave me out, I'll be there too screamin my homey's ear holes.

[Chris Lee]

oh is someone feeling left out? ;) of course you will be there, but i just wanted to give him an idea of how many competitiors he's gonna have to deal with.

by the by Jess, you missed my loading of the 270 stone yesterday.

[Elliot Baum]

hey steve I'd love to come up for the contest as well as two others from down here if there are spots left. We'll get in our entry forms soon.

[Patrick McGuffin]

when is the cut off for entries??? i might be able to come, but i definately need to get up too jesses and work on some of the events (stones) and i need to make sure to get into the light weight class

[Patrick McGuffin]

ok im getting mad, my computer is not letting me get to the online entry form for the contest on the na strongman website!!!

[J. Alexander]

Chirs, don't leave me out, I'll be there too screamin my homey's ear holes.

It'll be good to finally meet you, Jesse.:)

I'll make sure and introduce myself.

[Steve Spellman]

Chris, thanks for the update on which of your Sequim buddies are planning on competing. I'll post the list of the confirmed competitors in a couple of days. Hopefully I'll hear from them.

Patrick, the deadline was May 25th, but I still have 15 places available if I only count received entry forms or personal assurances from a couple of competitors.

I won't be able to have any signing-up on the day, so see if you can get the entry form from NAS or from the contest site at: http://www.strengthevents.com

Last time I competed, Grant was yelling at me throughout the truck pull and I think I was the only person that finished the course -- I was too scared to give up! Among the many roles that they'll occupy at this year's contest, Jesse and Grant Higa will be the head judges, so you know they will be right there 'encouraging' you too. If you can make it, I'm sure you'll have a good time.

[Patrick McGuffin]

right on!!!

[Patrick McGuffin]

hopefully i can make it, right at the moment im spending basically every scent that i have to get to sequim sometime to train (i even sold my car)(who says im not dedicated), hope i can this weekend so i can get some (verry much needed)practice before the show

[Grant Higa]

Patrick,

If Amtrak isn't reasonable, you can always look into Greyhound. I know they have a nonstop from Portland-Seattle, but not sure how many stops from Albany. Albany would be the closest to you I believe, but double check.

Good luck, and hope to see you there!
HIGA.

[Chris Lee]

thanks for the reply steve, i'm gonna try to get my entry in the mail tomorrow, and hound everyone else to get crackin on it too.

hey pat, thats incredible dedication, hope to see you up here soon bro.

[Patrick McGuffin]

are you guy,s going to be training this saturday??????

[Patrick McGuffin]

whether or not i make it there will be determined by how much money i have to spend to get to sequim in order to train, cuz its pointless to compete without a little more technique in some of the events, but i might still have enough to come and watch(im hoping to compete though)

[Steve Spellman]

We have a lot of athletes already signed up and I have a schedule commitment with Redhook, so the entry deadline that passed back on May 25th, really is closed!

We did a truck pull test today, with a 32,000 lb semi, which is the men's first event, and it was great -- very hard, but do-able by our 200 lbers as well as our big guys.

I'll be sending out emails to all registered athletes prior to the contest, with any updates and what I hope will be useful info on events, weigh-ins etc.