PORT ALLEN — The first ever Kaua‘i’s Strongest Man competition was held Saturday at the Kaua‘i 24 Hour Gym in Port Allen and Joel D’Attilio took the inaugural title. D’Attilio, a regular at the 24 Hour Gym, bested Marween Ibanez
PORT ALLEN — The first ever Kaua‘i’s Strongest Man competition was held Saturday at the Kaua‘i 24 Hour Gym in Port Allen and Joel D’Attilio took the inaugural title.
D’Attilio, a regular at the 24 Hour Gym, bested Marween Ibanez and Marnie Fernandez for first place. Josh Kinnard, the gym’s owner, was a last-minute entry to the contest in order to give the others a little more competition. Ibanez took second and Fernandez was third.
There was plenty of back-and-forth as each competitor showed their strength and talents at different events. Ibanez took first in the log press event, completing 10 full presses. D’Attilio followed with eight, Kinnard with seven and Fernandez with three.
The tire flip was another very close competition. D’Attilio completed 20 flips in the three-minute event. Kinnard had 18, Ibanez followed with 15 and Fernandez had 14.
Ibanez had the best score in the sled push, hitting the full 100 feet in 52.09 seconds. Kinnard made it to 100 feet in exactly 1 minute. D’Attilio reached 72.3 feet in 31.78 seconds. Fernandez hit 48.5 feet in 1 minute, 3 seconds.
The truck pull – yes, with a real truck – saw D’Attilio claim another first-place finish. He pulled the rig 57.9 feet in 1:46.50. Kinnard was close behind, hauling the truck 54.2 feet in 1:04.22. Fernandez made it 19.6 feet in 1:34.62. Ibanez reached 10 feet in 1:13.56.
In the farmers walk, which is a lift and carry event with one 200-pound weight in each hand, D’Attilio finished first again, reaching 100 feet in 19.28 seconds. Kinnard followed just behind, getting to 100 feet in 21.16 seconds. Ibanez made the walk to 50 feet in 25.16 seconds. Fernandez hit 50 feet in 27.35 seconds.
There were two attempts at the dead lift. The 450-pound try was only manageable for Kinnard, who made four successful lifts. The other three gave it a shot at 360 pounds.
D’Attilio completed six lifts, Ibanez, three and Fernandez, one-half.
Overall, Kinnard called it a “very good” day at the event. He plans on running it again next year and that this initial competition was basically a trial run.
“No one here has really done this before,” he said.
All the money earned from the event will be donated to wounded war veterans. To that end, there was plenty of donated food for spectators, which was organized by Aurther Brun.
Nick from Rainbow Screen Printing donated event t-shirts, which sold out.
Tesai Seamster took care of the deejaying and GNC was on hand to give out free product samples.