On Saturday 11th April David Horne held the second Memorial Contest in honour of his father, the great weightlifter and grip lifter, Peter Horne.
It was a great day, ran casually but officially and with great cameraderie all round.
The Two Hands Pinch was first using the now Euro Pinch grip invented by David Horne. Incidentally, if you ever get to David's, ask him about his father's early pinch grip set ups, they are still in his collection.
Seeing the 3 Horne brothers together was great. Alex, Oliver and Jason (Jake) as you would expect have massive competitive spirit and sibling rivalry. Alex hit a personal best with 69.7kg along with Paul Wood. The other two edged him out but drew with each other and Elizabeth Horne and Jim Mills on 73.9kg. Not bad for years off training grip from the boys. David Elmer, a real blast from the blast in the grip and IAWA community, hit a solid 79.1kg just behind former British Grip Champion Jim Wylie on 80.6kg. I was pleased to do 99.2kg and was coaxed in to attempting 109kg (my PB) but it wasn't to be. Steve had gone before us with a different width and hit a very easy 109.1kg. Incredibly he was REALLY close with 117kg. Steve's almost manic training regime (10 workouts a week!) has paid off.
In the Vulcan Gripper event there was only going to be one winner. Steve Gardener has closed No.4 grippers so this was a one horse race. Jim and Oliver both hit Level 8, Elizabeth and David did level 9 and Alex and Jason battled it out with level 10 and 11 closes respectively. Paul Wood showed his gripper prowess with a Level 12 close with Jim just missing Level 13 and so also getting a 12 close to share 3rd spot. I sneaked in a Level 13 to take second. Steve however showboated with a Level 19 close that he pretended to make look hard. It wasn't! He then proceeded to do Level 21 for a World's Best on David's masterful invention.
The One Hand Deadlift with an Olympic Bar was next. This is an official IAWA lift and one I have done well on in the past. Oliver did an impressive 100kg WITHOUT a hook grip as he didn't fancy the pain on the hook grip thus surrendering to everyone's taunts and abuse! Elizabeth did an amazing 120kg which is the most I have seen a woman do in recent times. Alex hit yet another PB with 130kg. Jason took the Horne brothers win again with 140kg. David Elmer did a smooth as silk 150kg. The the Jim's and Paul all hit easy 160kg and chose 175-180kg for their next attempts which weren't to be. I am sure they would have all made 170kg though. Steve did 195kg and I know he has been struggling with a bad back for some time. His grip looked solid. I hung on with 200kg to take the win. It's been a while (10 years?) since I've lifted big one hand deads like that!
Finally was the dreaded Orbi Grip. 2.5kg for 2 minutes of forearm busting revolutions! This event was mental. Oliver did 102 and Jim Mills did 112 in the allotted time. It looked HORRIBLE! Paul Wood, David Elmer, Elizabeth and Jason all scored well from 129 to 130 to 132 to 137 revolutions of PAIN!! Jim Wylie did a ridiculous 195 staring Alex down the whole way for testosterone fueled motivation. I managed 170 revolutions. Steve Gardener looked good but hit the wall with his massive forearms on fire at 110 revolutions. However, it was ENDURANCE freak Alex Horne who took the win with an amazing 197 reps just pipping Jim for the win. I hope we never do this event again.
When the chalk dust had settled these were the results.
1st Nick McKinless 8pts
2nd Jim Wyle 12.5pts
3rd Steve Gardener 13pts
4th Jason Horne 22.5pts
5th David Elmer 23.5pts
6th Paul Wood 24pts
7th Alex Horne (aged 17) 24.5pts
8th Elizabeth Horne (female) 28pts
8th Jim Mills 28pts
10th Oliver Horne 36pts
Thanks to David and Elizabeth for another excellent competition with old and new friends. Well done everyone!
Nick
Quite possibly the lift of the day...Steve Gardener gets oh so close with 117kg Two Hands Pinch.
