Cumbria's strongest man competition to open next year

Cumbria's Strongest Man will involve various different weightlifting exercises.

It is organised by Dave Broughton, a 44-year-old strength and conditioning coach from Workington.

"I would like to know who Cumbria’s strongest man is.

"I love Cumbria and I love strength sports, so I just thought it was about time that we had something like that," he said.

"There’s so many big strong lads round here in the gyms and I thought it would be a nice thing to do.

"It gives all the lads a chance to put it on the line and test themselves a bit."

The venue and date will be confirmed soon, but Mr Braughton confirmed it will take place near Workington.

He has already registered a lot of interest.

He said: "We put the open invite out on Instagram and the response was absolutely unbelievable.

"I think we’re up to 14 competitors now from all around the county, and the standard of strength is unbelievable."

The tasks which the competitors will do include a maximum weight deadlift, a maximum weight axle overhead press and a truck pull.

Mr Braughton said that the event is not only for weightlifting enthusiasts.

"It’s going to be a really big family fun day, there’s going to be lots of other stuff going on as well," he said.

"We’re hoping to have a few audience participation events and things like that.

"We’ve got food vendors, we’ve got clothing stalls, we’ll have bouncy castles for the kids."

He added: "Kids will love watching it.

"I think everyone enjoys world’s strongest man now, it’s like seeing the same thing live in your own backyard."

Mr Braughton hopes that the event is not just a one off.

He said: "I’d like to run it every year. The feedback I’ve had so far from some people has been unbelievable.

"All the guys in the gyms, the general public, I’ve had some people get in touch about sponsorship and that’s obviously making it a lot easier."

If you would like more information, you can find Cumbria's Strongest Man on Instagram at @cumbrias_strongest_man.