Photos and full write-up to come

List of the American competitors

Fabrice Nahmiash-young Canadian strongman making his strongman debut.  5 foot 8 inches tall

Massive Gary Mitchell- six foot 1 inches tall and 320 pounds, hit this link to learn more about him

Steven Brian Bell-made a very respectable showing

Karl Gillingham-Minnesota state powerlifting champion and Brad Gillingham's (1998 USAPL Superheavyweight powerlifting champion) brother.  As a side note his other brother Wade was also in attendance and planned to compete, but a sudden bout of appendicitus kept him from competing.  I am sure he will be there next year.

Chad Coy-gym owner, strength and conditioning coach, lots of determination and took to coaching well

Kris Assaley-made a strong showing

Douglas Ahr- six foot 5 inches 365 pounds, reminded many people of Cleve Dean in his body structure (i.e., big hands, big feet, big structure and a gentle giant)

Phil Makdisi-six foot six, 415 pound monster was from Texas, a collegiate and pro wrestler now lives and trains in Texas

Chad Knowles-did very well

Marshall Ennis-highland games competitor from Canada, tester for last year's US Strongman Finals

Mark Keshishian-hit this link to learn more about him

Terry Brennan-1998 WSM competitor "tuning" up for Morocco, also competed in the World Muscle Power Classic

Michael Gillert-fierce determination

Harold "IronBear" Collins-41 years old, this soft spoken man was arguably the crowd favorite hit this link to learn more about him

Odd Hagen-48 years old, 6 foot 5 and 295 pounds, competing in only his fifth strongman competition

Day 1: American Qualifier for the first International Full Strength Challenge

The events

        The apparatus: Two thick tree trunks were bolted and lashed together to make each side weigh about 220 pounds. The attached bar used for the gripping was long, thick and smooth. This apparatus was to be carried over the longest possible distance around a rectangular course. Once the objects are dropped the distance was measured.
        The strategy: As Gary Mitchell quickly learned in his race against Fabrice, the key to this race was coming out of the blocks first. If you weren't first, then you could be slowed by your competitor or when your competitor who was in front of you dropped the apparatus, you would trip over them

2. Tandem Forward hold: The competitors faced each other while they had to hold a very large but empty drum weighing about 55 pounds with their arms parallel to the floor. The competitors' arms were supposed to be straight, their backs were supposed to be straight or else they would be disqualified. The winner was the one who recorded the longest time. In this event Gary Mitchell moderately injured himself.

3. Carry and Drag: A large and cumbersome tire weighing 220 pounds had to be carried. Then two larger tires (combined weight of 700 pounds) that were lashed together were to be dragged by a rope across a line about 50 meters away. The time limit was 90 seconds. Only two competitors finished the race.
            The apparatus: Simply put, the drag aspect of this race was very grueling or in Manfred's words "very crueling"
            The strategy: The time in the first tire meant nothing since the battle came down to the drag. At first, the competitors tied the rope around their waists in such a fashion that part of the tire would be off the ground. The thought behind that was that less tire on the pavement meant less friction. However, this strategy ended up tripping the competitors as their feet got caught under the tires. Later, the strategy turned to simply looping the rope around the waist so that the maximum amount of distance from the tire could be achieved.