Inaugural Conquer the Castle competition is a huge success

On Saturday, 67 male and female competitors came together to compete in the competition which was set up by Valhalla Strength Club and Barons Fitness.

The 42-year-old said: “It’s been a fantastic event and the crowd were great.

“The competitors were also enthusiastic, the atmosphere was brilliant and everyone was supporting each other, which is always nice to see.

“Events like these give people the opportunity to take part in strongman/strongwomen competitions, and it opens us up to a much bigger market of people.”

Vicky Barker won the women’s first timers, with Louise Neasham taking the Woman’s Novice category. In the final category, Lisa Corallini won the women’s Inters.

In the men’s first timers, Dave Tibbett took home the trophy. In the Novice’s category, Craig Lathbury won the event with Max Searby winning the men inters.

In the Open event, Shane Hurley impressed to take the trophy home.

Hollands was impressed with the talent on show, having refereed the whole event.

“I thought there were some really impressive performances and some of the competitors were taking part in their first event and everyone gave it their all which is fantastic to see.

Conquer the Castle started with log press, then the deadlift, followed by the Yoke carry, frame carry and finishing off with the highlight of the event, the Atlas stones.

The event was also set up to raise money for Andy Man’s Club and the final total raised was £995.

“Events like these are a real community thing and it’s fantastic to see that they are doing things for charity and encouraging people to get involved with exercise.

“Most people would see exercise as running around the park or down the street, but perhaps people who don’t want to do that and will get involved with this which it’s always nice to see.”

The relationship between Valhalla and Barons looks set to continue, with talks of next year’s event on going. This is something that Hollands is excited about and welcome’s the idea of an annual competition.

He said: “Obviously, this is the first time and everyone did a fantastic job.

“I’d love to see this added to Strongman/Strongwomen calendar for every year.”