FESTIVALS AND EVENTS:At Antrim's Highlander Challenge, men the size of trees toss logs like they're matchsticks, writes FIONOLA MEREDITH.
THE sheer scale of the 10 international competitors taking part in the Highlander Challenge at Glenarm Castle in Co Antrim is impressive. All are much more than six feet tall, and they fill their kilts to bursting. But it’s clear that brawn is married to finely honed technique when the professional athletes take to the field, in a tournament that combines traditional Highland games with contemporary strength athletics.
The two-day challenge involves caber and mace tossing, as well as shiltron jousting and carrying the Pictish stones. No truck-pulling, though – events such as this are considered gimmicky and unhistoric by the event’s founder, Dr Douglas Edmunds.
Edmunds, who is officiating as referee, cuts a striking figure. A former world caber-tossing champion, he is resplendent in tartan trousers, with matching bow tie and black trilby. Edmunds is enthusiastic about the history of the Alasdair MacColla McDonnell award, otherwise known as the Devastator trophy, which will be presented to the winner this afternoon.
“McDonnell was earl of Antrim in the 17th century. He was half a head taller than most men, could wrestle bulls to the ground, and was the greatest swordsman to come out of Ireland. He made William Wallace look like a wimp. That’s why we’re here at Glenarm [the ancestral home of the earls of Antrim] to reclaim the old clan grounds.”
Edmunds’s son Gregor (32), the current Scottish Highland Games champion, is taking part in the challenge. His particular claim to fame is in successfully tossing the so-called untossable caber of Crieff Highland Games, which weighs more than 70kg and is more than five metres long. He is competing alongside the likes of Solvi Peterson, Iceland’s strongest man, and the Australian athlete Aaron Neighbour, a Commonwealth Games competitor in discus and shot put.
It’s a serious competition, yet the atmosphere is pleasantly relaxed. There’s a fun-fair going at full tilt, a vintage car rally, and a sheep-shearing competition promised for later. It all takes place in tree-lined meadow, normally occupied by sheep, if the evidence underfoot is anything to go by.
At the opening ceremony on Tuesday morning, a dramatic skirl of bagpipes strikes up to welcome the procession of flag-wielding competitors on to the pitch, only to die away again as the organisers realise they are one man short. Gregor Edmunds, wearing a green beanie hat, is quickly summoned to join the procession. “Tell him to take that daft hat off,” shouts Douglas. Gregor removes it with a wry smile. “My life is dictated by my father,” he says.
Brandishing a ceremonial sword, the current earl of Antrim opens the proceedings. The first event is throwing the hammer, which the athletes perform wearing boots with 15cm spikes, so they can root their massive bodies firmly to the ground. At 10kg, this hammer is a whopper, and the effort of swinging and launching it shows in the competitors’ contorted faces, as well as the wild grunts they let out as it flies. Most shots land more than 30m away.
By the end of day one, Poland’s Sebastian Wenta – 2.05m tall, with a black bandanna tied around his head – leads the field with his feats of strength. Wenta is the current Highlander champion, and it looks like the Devastator trophy could be within his grasp once more. The games continue today in Glenarm Castle, Ballymena, Co Antrim.
What's in a strongman's breakfast?
Porridge, porridge and yet more porridge is the answer. Big fry-ups and protein-rich scrambled eggs are also popular choices with the competitors.
In general, in addition to oats and eggs, copious quantities of milk, chicken and beef are considered ideal food when girding up for a strongman challenge.
Like many competitors, Gregor Edmunds uses specialised protein supplements. “You’ve got to eat sensibly throughout the day,” he says. “A formula-one car won’t run on diesel, you know.”
Aaron Neighbour, who studied nutrition at university, has a very specific dietary regime of complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables and whey-based protein supplements designed to replace muscle mass. But even strongmen need their treats. At the games on Tuesday, free packs of Big 100 chocolate-chip cookie dough vanished in seconds.
