Local Adam Grimes recently competed in his fourth strongman event on September 9th at Pennsylvania’s Strongest Man held in Parkersburg, PA. Grimes made the podium, taking silver after five events. “There were four competitors in my individual division and 51 total through all divisions,” said Grimes. “I was in the Super Heavyweight Division, which typically has the biggest, strongest competitors.”

The first event was a yoke-carry into a Zercher carry. In this event, competitors had to carry a weighted frame across their shoulders weighing 675 pounds, for 50 feet. Then the competitor immediately carried a second frame weighing 575 pounds, in the crooks of their arms, back 50 feet. Adam placed 2nd in this event with a time of 27.77 seconds. “I was very happy with this performance!”

The second event was a keg-load into sled a drag. Competitors had to carry two kegs, weighing 250 pounds and 275 pounds, respectively, down a 30-foot course and load them into a sled. The sled, now weighing 525+ pounds, was then drug 30 feet back to the starting line. Grimes won this event and was the only athlete to actually complete it.

The third event was an overhead press medley where competitors had to press as many implements as possible overhead, starting with a 255-pound steel log. “This was my only disappointing performance of the day as I only successfully pressed the first log,” said Grimes. The performance was, however, still good enough for third place.

The max 18-inch deadlift was the fourth event. In this event, the athlete had three attempts to lift a barbell set at a start height of 18 inches to a locked-out position. “I was particularly looking forward to this event. I strategically stopped at 855 pounds to tie for second place. I felt that I could have broken the state record, which was at 950 pounds, but decided it was not worth the risk of losing points if I were to miss the lift.”

The fifth and final event was the sandbag lift to shoulder. The athlete had to take a sandbag from ground to shoulder for as many repetitions as possible within a 60-second time limit. “At this point, I was three points ahead of third place and was too far away from first to go for the win. I only needed one lift to guarantee a second-place finish, and that’s what I did. I was also the fastest athlete to shoulder the 275-pound sandbag for one repetition,” said Grimes.

When the dust settled, Adam Grimes amassed 14.5 points and a 2nd place finish. Bryce Speert took first place with a total of 19 points for the day. When asked about his overall thoughts regarding the competition, the big man responded, “Overall, I would say I am very happy with my performance. I have been chasing a podium finish at Pennsylvania’s Strongest Man since 2020. I plan on coming back next year, and I am aiming to take gold!” When asked if there was anyone he wanted to acknowledge, he responded, “Thank you to my dad, mom, and my wife for supporting me. All the glory to God.”