Dhanni successful in pier test of strength
Local man Dhanni Moar beat five other competitors to become Shetland’s Strongest Man and overall Northern Isles Strongest Man on Sunday, with the event sponsored by Shetland Transport and Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK Ltd.
Brian Cunningham and Gary Burt from Edinburgh and Orkney’s Steven Patterson were up against Shetland’s strongest men Dhanni Moar and Colin Arthur, who were joint champions last year, and newcomer Marek Los.
The first event was the Central Garage car deadift. In this event the competitors had to lift the rear of the car off the ground as many times as possible in 75 seconds. The event proved good for the Shetland title holders with Moari first with an impressive 13 lifts and Arthur second with six.
The second event was the Brae Garage & Johnson Transport pressing medley. Here the athletes had to press four different implements above their heads in the time allowed. This proved to be a good event for Moar as he clearly won the event by pressing all four items in a mere 46 seconds. Only Burt managed the same number as Moar in a slightly slower time. Newcomer Los impressed the crowd with three items pressed in 32 seconds to take third place.
The final event before the interval saw the strongmen tackle the Conan’s wheel. The advantage of going last paid off for Moar as he completed a hat trick of event wins by finishing first followed again by Burt.
During the interval several brave spectators took part in the crowd participation event which saw them attempt the Conan’s wheel, albeit with a bit less weight than the strongmen had tried. Daniel Drakeford came out on top and won three months membership at the Shetland Weight Training Club in Scalloway.
The fourth event was the Shetland Exhaust & Tyre Centre tyre flip. A large 350kg tyre was flipped as many times as possible. This event proved to be a tough one for all with five being the most achieved by Patterson, giving him a great start to the second half of the competition.
The penultimate challenge was the loading medley sponsored by Shetland Powder Coating. This event required a 250kg yoke to be carried 15 metres and then three implements, increasing in weight from 80-120kg, had to be loaded on to a platform. This was a very close event with five seconds separating the top three, with Patterson first, Moar again picked up good points with third and Arthur fourth.
The final event saw Moar going head to head with Burt for the overall title in the LEF-sponsored atlas stones.
Moar had a two-point advantage and had the benefit of going last.
All the competitors made a good attempt at the stones and Burt set an excellent time of 41 seconds to put all five stones up. Moar then only needed to complete four stones in a faster time than the second-placed athlete and he managed that easily to take the overall title ahead of Burt. Arthur came in a creditable third overall.
Overall: 1 Dhanni Moar; 2 Gary Burt; 3 Colin Arthur; 4 Steven Patterson; 5 Marek Los; 6 Brian Cunningham.
Shetland’s Strongest Man: 1 Dhanni Moar; 2 Colin Arthur; 3 Marek Los.
Orkney’s Strongest Man: Steven Patterson.
A spokesman said the organisers would like to thank Lerwick Port Authority, the sponsors and everyone for their help, and especially the competitors for stepping up and taking part.
