This past weekend Red Deer was the site for The Royal Iron Strength Classic strongman competition.
Over 200 people came out to watch 20 competitors fight for the title of the strongest man or woman in Central Alberta.
Nick Ris, along with his wife Christine, organized the event and talked about how much it's grown since the first event last year.
"We had six fellas that went into the parking lot just across the street from Lindsay Thurber School. The joke that day was that my wife and my son came and watched for a few minutes, and whoever came down that hill that day got to catch a sneak peek of some fellas just wanting to lift some heavy weights out in the open air."
This year the event was a lot bigger with 20 competitors and a lot more for fans to see. There were food trucks on site and some special guests including the 2023 Alberta's Strongest Man, and the 2024 Alberta's Strongest Man. Ris talked about some of the events that they did.
"We had a farmer's carry. So for that, we had different weight classes. The ladies were carrying about 100 lbs in each arm. The guys were carrying about 200 lbs in each arm. And then the heavyweights were carrying I think it was like 280 lbs in each arm for that."
Although is is a competition, Ris says everyone is a part of a tight-knit community.
"It didn't matter if you had somebody there who was a family member, or a friend, everyone in the crowd was just cheering for everybody. It was really awesome to see."
The winner of the women's event was Courtney Johnson, while on the men's side, it was our own Sunny 94 sales rep Dillon Andres.
If you are interested in getting involved in this strongman competition check out the Royal Iron Strength Facebook page.