The 2021 Peak District Highland Games Preview
Ran by Man Beast strongman events,
the Peak District Highland games (PDHG) goes from strength to strength as we
introduce a stacked competitor list and add a women’s category to some of the
events to mark the 5th year of the show at Matlock Farm Park. Sunday 29th August 2021, 11am.
Through a difficult period of
covid19 and lockdown that has affected the world, and with gyms closed, the
athletes are stepping up their training as we head toward the final weeks until
the PDHG in a bid to increase strength and prepare the best they can.
Popular athlete and two times
winner of the PDHG Scott Mark Litchfield is back and is sure to be a firm
favourite again narrowly missing out to Paul Smith in the 2019 PDHG.
Always consistently strong in
every event, Scott also holds the record on the Dinnie stone hold with a time
of 1 minute 8 seconds – a brutal event that normally concludes the show.
Training partner Jake Rideout,
another consistent performer in the PDHG and podium finisher, has knuckled down
and we know Jake and Mark Thomson have replicated the events in their training
schedule, obtaining a caber to practice with – and are both taking the title
challenge very seriously.
Jake is former York’s and Yorkshire’s
strongest man and Mark Thomson under 105kg 2nd Rotherham 2020 and 3rd
at Hull strongest under 105kg (16.5 ST bodyweight) 2019.
Big Dave Thornton, who won the
Rotherham Highland Games 2019, as well as the Bus pull Championships 2019 is
back in the line-up and always poses a threat. When Dave is on his game, he is
a match for anyone standing at 6 feet 4 inches and around 25 stones.
Ashton ‘the bear’ Reid – a regular
at our Highland Games shows – is experienced at the events – and although can
lack some consistency, always has some surprises up his sleeve and again cannot
be discounted for a podium finish. He came second at the Lincoln truck pull
show in Julys looking explosive.
Scott Maw last competed in our
Yorkshire Highland Games show 6 years ago in Barnsley. A bit of an unknown
quantity Scott could be our pick as one to watch – looked incredibly strong at
Julys Truck pull event and backed by Scott Mark Litchfield as ‘very strong’.
And this is where it gets
interesting. Very interesting. We have some under 105kg strongman (under 16.5
stone) in the mix, which as Michael Munch Davis and Shaun Blairs proved in the
2019 PDHG doesn’t result in less strength.
Matt Cole comes in as under 105kg
3 times UK’s strongest man, his first appearance at the games and comes in with
an impressive resume. Shaun Blairs also returns after some standout
performances in the 2019 show.
Another newcomer is Jimmy Sharp
from Hull whose favourite event is the press so is expected to do very
well on the log press. We have seen some training videos of Jimmy taking out 15
120kg log press reps in the gym with relative ease.
And from the other side of the UK
Joe Bromiley comes in as 3 x Liverpool’s strongest man with his favourite event
been the atlas stones so we are looking forward to seeing his performances in
the stone of destiny and dinnie stone events.
Fresh From winning the Lincoln 44
tonne Truck pulling event Ryan Martin (Rhino) comes in as the heaviest
competitor at 25.5 stone and is another competitor we know little about but who
could provide some surprises.
Down in Wales comes in Gareth Pugh as 2nd North Wales strongest man – nicknames the Welsh warrior. His favourite event is the deadlift, the closest event to that is the dinnie stones so this will be an interesting event to watch for Gareth.
What we have to remember here is
the highland games acts as a great leveller with a blend of world strongman
events such as the log press and vehicle pull mixed with caber toss, dinnie stones,
stone carry and stone throw. We have seen in the past various techniques to
these events with the more experienced athletes normally having the edge.
For at least half the field of the
Highland games competitors these events will be totally new. So, all credit for
those stepping up to the plate and taking on seasoned competitors – you cannot
rule any shock results out here – in the past some newbies have come in and
really shaken the field up.
Lincolnshire is represented with
Dave Johnson stepping forward, competed in the 2019 highland games amassing
some previous experience of the events and always a strong competitor claiming
‘he saw Jesus’ when he took on the Dinnie stones such was the difficulty of
lifting them!
In comes Matt Jackson, who has
previously appeared in the Peak District Highland Games show – most notably in
2018 – the wettest show we have ever run. Matt has been a finalist in the UK
masters and has some experience to lean back on with our events. We have also
been watching Matt’s training on a playing field with his own caber in full
kilt!
Mariusz Dacz is another new entrée
coming in around 18 stone and 6 feet 4 inches tall, we expect him to be quick
at this size. The first event, the log press, will be a good indicator of what
each competitor is bringing.
To mark the 5th year,
we are really excited about our new category the women’s events, comprising of 3 demo events caber toss, stone throw and tractor pull.
Chloe Brennan is under 64kg (10
stone 1lb bodyweight) England’s strongest woman 2019, consistent podium finish
in the past 4 years of England’s strongest woman and 4th place at Arnold
amateur World Championships 2020. What a resume!
Chloe
Brennan
Nicky Walters comes in as 3rd
Wales strongest woman 2019 and 2020 as well as holding a Guinness World record
– pulling a barge!
Our complete wildcard is 15-year-old
Millie Thornton (daughter of competitor Dave Thornton) who impressed us that
much at the Flying Hire Ltd Lincoln truck pull competition we have given her a
spot at the Highland games in her first big show!
Millie
Thornton – Brett Wright photo credits
The women’s event has been put
on to showcase the sport of strongwoman with plans to make this part of the
competition and Highland games shows going forward.
This year it is hard to tip a
winner. We certainly think Scott Mark
Litchfield is a favourite and we expect Jake Rideout to be a real threat this
year. It is hard to see the Dinnie stones record been beaten, but there are a
lot of unknowns with a field of new competitors who will most certainly up their game.
We also know that performing at a
big show can have two effects, it either brings on nerves or enhances athlete
performances. And we know from previous years the crowd at Matlock really
really get behind the guys and girls competing
The PDHG is refereed by no other
than 2 times Guinness world record holder Mark Anglesea and is made up of the
following events.
Crew Made up of strongman competitors Richard Hiley and Jack Tipper
Scorer Morgan Anglesea
PA Andrew Picken - ManBeast Strongman co-founder
Giant log press – 120kg for as
many reps as possible.
Tractor Pull – 8 tonnes pull
fastest time over 20 metres
Caber Toss 50kg – toss of caber
for distance
Stone throw – 20kg for distance
Stone of destiny – 170kg stone –
fastest time to carry across 20 metres
Dinnie stones 162kg and 189kg
lifted and held for as long as possible.
Dinnie
Stones
Athletes
|
Ryan |
Martin |
|
Mariusz |
Arendacz |
|
Matt |
Cole |
|
Chloe |
Brennan |
|
David |
Thornton |
|
Nicky |
Walters |
|
Joe |
Bromiley |
|
dave |
johnson |
|
Jake |
Rideout |
|
Jason |
Jones |
|
Scott |
Litchfield |
|
Gareth |
Pugh |
|
Millie |
Thornton |
|
Matt |
Jackson |
|
Jimmy |
Sharp |
|
Mark |
Thomson |
|
Ashton |
Reid |
|
Scott |
Maw |
Event sponsors Visit Peak District, Thornbridge brewery, Peak Edge hotel, Royal Oak at Hurdlow
For media enquiries contact manbeastevents@gmail.com
Facebook @manbeast28
youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFHyvXRSPIoIbf6KS_xG4SQ
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