For the third year in a row, Silt resident Greg Orosz will host the Strongest of the Strong Strongman competition Saturday, Aug. 3, at the county fairgrounds on the second-to-last day of the popular Garfield County Fair.
The Strongman competition will be held inside the main arena for the second year in a row, with some minor changes to the competition itself.
“There’s really not much that’s different with the event itself, in terms of planning, but we’re going to switch up some events to make it more challenging,” Orosz said. “We’re going to do different styles of pressing this year, so instead of doing axel press, we’re going to do the press medley and the axel and keg press. Competitors will have to do one to move on to the other press.”
Orosz added that the competition will add the farmer’s carry deadlift, which replaces the keg toss. In the farmer’s carry deadlift, competitors will pick up and put down the weight, rather than picking it up and running with it. The Strongman competition will also have the arm-over-arm drag, which will be hooked up to a couple of side-by-sides, as well as the odd object carry with Atlas Stones.
“I think this year will be a bit more challenging for sure,” Orosz said. “It’s always good to switch things up year to year to add more intrigue to the event, not only for the competitors, but those who are watching as well.”
The competition worldwide is centered on a modern, eclectic strength competition in which competitors display functional strength through exercises such as lifting rocks, toting refrigerators, pulling trains and towing an 18-wheel truck. As a result, interest in the sport has skyrocketed at the grassroots level, especially here in Garfield County thanks to someone as passionate about that sport as Orosz.
So far this year, Orosz has 14 competitors officially signed up for the event, but the Silt resident wants to see that number reach 40 people this year. In the past, as many as 200 people reached out with interest in the event. Orosz added that if the 35-40 people who have shown consistent interest in years past come out this year, the event should have the highest number of competitors its had in its three years.
One other small change to the event this year will be the timing. Last year, the event started at 11 a.m. and ran straight through following the parade. This year, though, the strongman competition kicks off at 9 a.m. and will take a 30 minute break around 11:30 a.m. to let the competitors refuel before pushing toward the end of the event at 3 p.m.
Aside from determining who the strongest of the strong is in Garfield County, Orosz’s event aims to raise money for Brent’s Place.
Brent’s Place is the only Children’s Hospital Colorado-approved Safe-Clean housing facility for immune-compromised patients and their families. It provides a living environment that is essential to healing and recovery.
Brent’s Place holds a special place in Orosz’s family. A few years ago, Orosz’s young cousin was fighting leukemia. Brent’s Place housed and fed Orosz’s family during his cousin’s nearly 200-day treatment.
Orosz will donate all proceeds from the strongman competition to the Aurora-based organization in hopes of helping other families and patients.
On top of raising money for Brent’s Place, Orosz is also hoping to show the United States Strongman committee that the Garfield County Fair Strongman competition is worthy of being an international qualifying event.
“If I can show them that I know what I’m doing and can handle myself when hosting the show, then winners can qualify to compete internationally and represent the United States,” Orosz said. “If interest keeps growing, it’s a pretty good opportunity.”
jcarney@postindependent.com