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Photo Courtesy Western Circus of Strength Social media
By Tanner Smith
Western Circus of Strength

Evergreen Park hosts Strongman contest

Aug 30, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The Western Circus of Strength will take over Evergreen Park Saturday, August 31.

Event coordinator, and Head Promoter for Grande Prairie Strongest 2024, Kyle Evankoff says Strongmen and Strongwoman will compete in several competitions, with no charge to attend.

“So it’s actually beneath the stands at the Gordon Badger Stadium, so it’s more or less as many people as we can fit in there, I think the capacity is about 1,500 below the stands. The event itself will take place in the building and outside the building.”

This year’s event will have a theme, a mix of the original strongman, mixed in with Grande Prairie’s Western culture; “Strongman obviously originates from circus days and things of that nature where it was like lifting large random objects like train axles. Two events are kind of particular to the circus aspect, we have large metal wagon wheels; one event will be the males actually pressing the wagon wheels above their head, so that’s a solid two-inch axle weighing up to 250 lb they’re going to pass over their head, and then the other event is actually going to be an axle deadlift.”

Other events planned for the day include the Farmer’s Loading Medley, Bull Drag to Equipment Push and The Grande Prairie Gauntlet.

Evankoff, who is a Strongman National champion says prizes will then be given out to all podium athletes.

“I’ve competed in sport for such a long time, I’ve got an understanding of what athletes like to see in events. Sometimes it’s not the greatest thing when you go out to a backwater parking lot and get a dollar store medal.”

“So, having competed for so long, I wanted to put on shows that would help grow the strength community in general, because it’s such a good thing for people to do, get out and move, and try different things. But I also wanted to put on a show that athletes feel like athletes, so for first place in every class we have a custom-made sword, and then for second and third place we also have trophies, and then we have gift bags from Supplement World for every single athlete competing.”

Evankoff says lots of locals are set to compete and it is “kid-friendly,” so he encourages families to attend, “as kids love watching individuals pull trucks or lift random giant rocks.”

Evankoff puts on and funds the majority of these events by himself and took a second to thank his sponsors, Supplement World and Atlas Inspections.

Anyone wanting more information on the Western Circus of Strength can visit their social media page.

by Tanner Smith