{"id":119064,"date":"2014-07-14T22:56:27","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T04:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/strongman-competition-stands-out\/"},"modified":"2014-07-14T22:56:27","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T04:56:27","slug":"strongman-competition-stands-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/strongman-competition-stands-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Strongman competition stands out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><!-- gallery:d03bc8d6-d6a4-44d6-b312-6743f56935af --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5I6S4WWKpv0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Even in a world where unique sporting events have become the norm rather than the exception, strongman competitions stand out.<\/p>\n<p>Requiring competitors to flip tires, haul vehicles and partake in numerous other challenging activities, the competitions push even the strongest individuals to their limits.<\/p>\n<p>In no way intimidated by such physical and mental strains, 17 competitors arrived in Towaoc on July 12 for the fourth annual Ute Mountain Strongman Competition.<\/p>\n<p>Matching themselves against some of the Four Corner\u2019s strongest individuals, participants battled heat and fatigue, competing in five events over the course of two hours.<\/p>\n<p>By the time all was said and done, two individuals had captured individual titles, and numerous others performed well.<\/p>\n<p>Leading the way in the men\u2019s division was Arizona resident Kenji McCoo, whose ability to efficiently flip a 320-pound tractor tire, carry two 155-pound weights, deadlifting 405-pounds numerous times, pulling a 6,500-pound Hummer and stacking five 150-pound kegs helped him finish first overall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a competitive power-lifter and I work in the mines,\u201d said McCoo after the competition. \u201cThat all prepares me for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Capturing top-honors in the female division for the second consecutive year was Dolores resident Alix Skala, whose ability to drag a 4500-pound Jeep 22 feet, eight inches, was impressive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The competition) went really well,\u201d said Skala, who trains five-days per week at Para Bellum Fitness in Cortez. \u201cI performed a little better than I thought I would and I had some great competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Discussing the strength of the competition, event organizer Rob Robson explained that every year, the Ute Mountain Strongman attracts some of the area\u2019s strongest men and women.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a community event,\u201d said Robson, a bodybuilder and power-lifter. \u201cI try to have it out here on the reservation to encourage people to get off their seats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One individual that was thankful for the opportunity to get outside the house was Austin Lansing, who finished first in the \u201cHummer Pull\u201d event, dragging a 6,500-pound vehicle 12 feet, six inches.<\/p>\n<p>Discussing what he enjoys about the Ute Mountain Strongman, Lansing mentioned the event\u2019s community atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The crowd) helps you out a lot and really motivates you,\u201d said Lansing. \u201cI enjoy the (Ute Mountain Strongman). It\u2019s a lot better than basketball tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An entertaining event to say the least, the Ute Mountain Strongman Competition promises to thrill in years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>sporting events draws 17 competitors to Towaoc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6328,6313],"tags":[316],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-119064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-2-more-sports","category-sports-2","tag-video"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119064"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=119064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}