Muscle men put strength to test

Strong men from all over England showed off their muscles in Lichfield.

Lichfield Rugby Club hosted the annual Myprotein.co.uk England's Strongest Man final for the second successive year yesterday.

Hundreds of people, including local families and powerlifting fans from all over the country, turned out to cheer on the 13 strongest men in the country in a series of testing feats of strength.

They took part in six challenges beginning with a truck pull.

The final event was a man against man knockout tug o' war for the top eight only.

Lichfield Rugby Club captain and scrum half James Clark said he was impressed with the power of the competitors but was not tempted to try out any of their lifting challenges in training for the new season.

"It is a good event for the club. It seems to be even more popular this year.

"We have been lucky with the weather this year and the turn out seems to be bigger.

"Quite a few club members have come along to enjoy the day. We even put on some fairground rides for the kids this year," said James.

Jacqui Hardy and her husband Mick and their sons Charlie and Joseph from Boley Park, Lichfield, were enjoying the excitement.

"We are all really enjoying it - its a nice family event. I'm very impressed with the strength of these men," said Jacqui.

Charlie, aged six, who plays for the rugby club's under-sevens, said he now wanted to be a strongman when he grew up.

Mike Donaldson from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, travelled to Lichfield to train on two of his training partners in the competition.

"It is a good event and well organised," he said.

The top six now go through to the UK Strongest Man competition.