Night of the Living Dead, Lifters Without Borders, and My First 600+ Pull
by: Stephen Winburn (blog)

This Saturday I had the honor of not only meeting some of the best lifters in the World, but also competing against them. Many of the lifters would have remained unknown to me were it not for the vision of Alex Campbell and the affronts of a group of people who pulled the Night of the Living Dead from the clutches of the USAPL, though I call it home. The opening of these doors brought a group with greater depth than could have been hoped for from a single federation to lift against one another and forged friendships and camaraderie where monolifts, the number of plys a man, or woman, wears, and whether or not he, or she, is subject to OMTs.

From across the country, and indeed across the seas, lifters descended upon Elizabethton, TN to bend over, grab a piece of steel laden with steel discs, and pick it up all to the applause of hundreds of fans in an unlit high school gym with smoke effects and deafening music. We call it the dead lift, a lift forgotten in the era of lifting equipment. From the smallest, Haydin Spradlin at only 62 pounds and still bearing the load of childhood, to the largest, Andy Bolton weighing a staggering 335 pounds. There were many with world titles and world records to their credit across the diaspora of federations powerlifting now has the sadness of trying to piece together. Great lifts were made and great lifts were missed, but everyone brought only their best and received the cheers of a frenzied crowd as they strode to the stage and faced the PRs of yesterday and the aspirations of the day of competition.

For the women first place was taken by Natalie Freed with a pull of 352.7 pounds at a mere 119 pounds of body weight and second place went to Rhonda Clark who pulled 440.9 pounds missing her third attempt at 463. The men saw the much-anticipated battle of Mr. Andy Bolton and Mr Tom Eiseman. This year Andy Bolton took the win with a Schwartz score of 214.9 via a third attempt pull of 964.5 pounds, wearing a singlet, a belt, and enough chalk to coat a smaller mans body. Mr. Eiseman made a second pull of 755.1, giving him a Schwartz score of 213.38, missing a third attempt at 771.6 pounds, which would have given him the win with a Schwartz score of 218.05, had Mr. Bolton not pulled at least 979.05 pounds.

The other twenty-one competitors did not fail to impress either, and I am humbly including myself in the same group. The complete list of the results, in pounds, is given after the video of my meet and pictures of the competitors, their families,, friends, and some of the people who made this all run smoothly.

For my part I had the pleasure of pulling my first 600+ pull with 606. Although I was unhappy with my training for the last few weeks to a month, and there was a twinge on my last warm-up in my low back, I conquered the challenge that I had set for myself on the platform and look forward to something even greater next year. I would like to thank all the lifters, Alex Campbell, the fans cheering, and the Elizabethton high school powerlifting club for making it such a great experience. I would also like to thank the woman who not only carried my son while I was off chasing dragons, but carried him in her womb until the moment Elijah came into my life. You are my world and without you I have no purpose.