The first Super Grip Challenge was held Sunday, May 23, 1999 at Kevin 
Fulton's barn, just outside of Litchfield, Nebraska. A small but 
enthusiastic group of 7 lifters competed in this historic event.  After
weigh-in's, the meet started with the retangular fix.  Using a 2" bar 
put a quick limit on the amount of weight that was able to be lifted. Next
up came the pinch grip. While chalk is handy, it is no substitute for
strength. In the hub lift, it appeared that one of Kevin's wagons probably
wasn't working at the time, as we used a real hub. After these events, we
then turned to the Fulton one-hand deadlifts.  These are simply dumbell
deadlifts, using a 2" dumbell, named after Kevin long ago.  Of course,
with this advantage, he won the event quite easily.

     We made a big mistake at this meet.  The grippers from Ironmind were
included in the meet and Kevin was going to attempt to close the #3.   
The problem was that we had done to many other events before that and he
was not successful. He did close it to within less than the thickness of 
a dime, so we know that when he is fresh, he's on the list!

     The big suprise of the meet came during the finger lifts.  13 year old
Brandon Fulton (son of Doug Fulton) was the strongman in these, outlifting
almost everyone.  Having no idea what he could do in these, the weights he 
lifted for his competition, were well below what he was able to do for
record.  (See extra attempts, below)

     After the regular competition was over, we set up the farmer's walk 
course, and 4 brave souls decided to give it a try.  The length was 264 ft
one way (16 rod).  The object was to carry 2 tractor weights, each weighing
150lbs, down the length of the course.  At the end, drop the weights, and
pick up two 100lb sandbags and return to the starting line.  The sandbags
had been taped at the tops to create a "rope" to grab onto.  In my opinion, 
this had to be the hardest single athletic event, that I have ever been in,
and I believe that the other competitors would agree.  Three of us finished,
but dropped the sandbags several times.  To give you an idea how hard it
was, Kevin, (the eventual winner) stopped 2 feet from the end and 
had to rest several seconds before he could cross the finish line, and lay
on the ground for some time to get his breath back.

     The results were tabulated, lunch was served and the (very nice) awards
were handed out.  Goodbye's were said, and everyone left, thereby ending
the 1st Super Grip meet.

     Even though the turn-out was light, this was a very fun meet, abeit a
very tough one.  The teenagers from Nebraska, were all strong (must be the
water) and the competition was stiff.  In talking with Kevin since the meet,
he has told me that there will be some changes to next year's meet, with
some redundancy taken out of the lifts.  He may also change the location  
to a more convenient place, such as Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska.  Stay tuned 
for further developments.  The results for the meet are listed below.

_____________________________________________________________________________
                    
Meet Results
                              
All weights for the competition are listed in pounds.

Name	       Age	Bwt	Rec fix	Pinch	Hub	Hub	Fulton	Fulton	Gripper	Gripper
			        2" Bar		Right	Left	Rh DL	Lh DL	Right	Left

Colby Howard	16	149.0	50	100	50	50	  0	  0	 #T	 #T
Mat Kucera	15	165.0	60	120	60	60	150	165	 #1	 #T
Doug Fulton	40	204.0	65	140	75	65	160	150	 #2	 #1
Elijah Kucera	17	221.5	65	140	70	65	150	  0	 #1	 #T
Brandon Fulton	13	225.0	55	100	50	50	120	120	 #T	 #T
Joe Garcia	45	242.0	70	140	65	60	160	150	 #2	 #1
Kevin Fulton	39	257.5	85	170	75	70	185	170	 #2	 #2
	

                                                        ------ Finger Deadlifts ------									
Name	       Age	Bwt		Fulton 	1hd DL	Middle	Index	Ring	Little	

Colby Howard	16	149.0		325	225	205	135	155	 85	
Mat Kucera	15	165.0		325	255	185	190	150	135	
Doug Fulton	40	204.0		345	255	200	135	135	 95	
Elijah Kucera	17	221.5		475	350	230	190	135	 65	
Brandon Fulton	13	225.0		265	  0	165	135	140	105	
Joe Garcia	45	242.0		345	255	275	225	150	 95	
Kevin Fulton	39	257.5		525	335	340	245	255	175	


Extra attempts for record:

Lift	Name							
	       Colby	Matt	Doug	Elijah	Brandon	Joe	Kevin	
Pinch			        170	150				
Index DL					235			
Middle DL	245				225		400	
Ring DL			175			175		275	
Little DL					120		185	
Fulton		345							
Over-Fulton						265	365	
1hd DL						155			


Farmer's walk: 
  1st - Kevin Fulton  -  Time: 2:09
  2nd - Doug Fulton   -  Time: 2:53
  3rd - Joe Garcia    -  Time: 4:18
  4th - Elijah Kucera -  Distance 264 ft

This page last modified May 27, 1999