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Thunder Bay's Strongest Man tests limits (11 Photos)

The most David Lennox had pulled in the gym was a few hundred pounds. Then on Saturday, he chained himself to the front of a 48,000-lb city bus, dug the balls of his feet into the concrete and hauled it for 100 metres.
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David Lennox pulls a Thunder Bay Transit bus weighing 48,000 lbs. as he competed for the title of Thunder Bay's Strongest Man on Saturday. The contest was the second of three events taking place over the summer for the championship belt. (Jon Thompson, tbnewswatch.com)

The most David Lennox had pulled in the gym was a few hundred pounds. Then on Saturday, he chained himself to the front of a 48,000-lb city bus, dug the balls of his feet into the concrete and hauled it for 100 metres.

"This is the first time I've ever done it and it's a bus," he gasped when he finished.

"It feels like you're being tugged around by a giant behind you, honestly. You feel the weight pull and loosen. It really feels like you have a wall behind you."

Lennox was one of 12 contestants from across Northwestern Ontario competing in the second of three summer events, all vying to be named Thunder Bay's Strongest Man.

Apart from dragging a bus, they carried 250 to 350 lbs in each arm as if they were hay bails. They then flipped 750 to 950-lb industrial tires, end-over-end, as many times as they could in a minute. Finally, they lifted a car.   

"It's testing your limits," explained organizer Kateri Skaarup. "Most of us don't know what we're capable of until somebody comes along and puts a number to it."

The numbers prove Ben Thompson knows what he's capable of. Last year, he tied the Ontario circus dumbbell record, holding a 230-lb one-arm dumbbell press over his head.

Thompson has been training for strength over the last 10 years, twice the lifespan of the event in which he was competing this weekend. Beyond working out for two hours every two days, he consumes between 4,000 and 6,000 calories every day.

"So much effort, so much food, so much time," he said. "I'm 26 now. I've been training for strength since I was 16. You literally hit it every second day for two hours. You've got to give it everything you have."    

All proceeds from the event in the parking lot of Paulucci's Wayland Bar & Grill were donated to Camp Quality. 

 

 





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