Loading Race

An event with almost limitless variations, the loading race has been thrilling WSM fans and challenging the strength, endurance and speed of competitors for decades. The aim is to load a number of objects onto a platform or platforms within a time limit. The athlete who loads the most implements in the quickest time takes the win. This is a discipline in which the weight of the objects is of somewhat secondary importance to a number of factors. For example, the shape and dimensions of the objects, the distance to be covered, the height of the loading platforms, and the terrain on which it takes place, amongst other variables, are all crucial. The loading race is generally completed in pairs, with competitors going ‘head-to-head’, but on the odd occasion (e.g., the final in 2007), there can be up to five athletes attempting the course simultaneously. What has ensued is that over the many years of WSM, competitors have loaded objects as diverse as anchors and chains, sandbags and flour sacks, anvils and lobster pots, masts and blocks of ice, wine casks and beer kegs, and more besides.

Casting an eye back to 1982, the loading race consisted of ten 76kg beer kegs, loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck (with loading onto the back of similar vehicles continuing until 1989). On the grassy surface, the Canadian Tom Magee took the win on his way to second place overall that year. In 1984, and in keeping with the freezing Swedish surroundings, eight 70kg blocks of ice had to be loaded, with Dutchman Ab Wolders taking top spot.

A year later in Portugal, and though the weights of the lobster pots was a mere 25kgs each the course itself was far, far more demanding than in previous years. Ten of these rock-laden pots had to be carried from the sandy beach up a steep incline to the flatbed truck thirty metres away. It was Icelandic legend Jon-Pall Sigmarsson who proved more than equal to the task, emerging in first place. It was to be another victory for Jon-Pall twelve months later in Nice. Five 90kgs wine casks had replaced the lobster pots, and though the course was shorter at twenty metres, the competitors once again had to negotiate a significant gradient from the shore to the loading platform.

Budapest in 1988 saw a change to the format. Unlike in previous years, the objects to be loaded were no longer identical. Though each weighed 90kgs, that was where the similarity ended. The objects in question were: a milk churn (filled with lead, sand and water), a barrel, an oil drum, a crate, a sandbag and a basket filled with rocks. However, the changes to the event made no difference to the outcome, with JPS covering the flat, 10 metre course in the quickest time. The Icelander demonstrating yet again that regardless of the terrain or the objects to be loaded he was a formidable competitor in this event.

Staying in Europe, but moving from Hungary to Spain, 1989 saw another win in the loading race for Ab Wolders. On an uphill course, Wolders showed great speed and endurance to load the anchor, buoy, sandbag, crate, wooden barrel and metal canister and secure second place overall. The Dutchman, also a winner of the loading back in 1984, was another competitor who had excellent foot-speed and conditioning and was always a force to be reckoned with in this discipline.

WSM travelled to Finland in 1990, and actually featured two loading races. The first of which is probably one of the most unique variations of the event ever seen at WSM. Using a shovel, competitors had to load a total of 270kgs of stones into three baskets, and deposit them into a railway car 10 metres away. In what was a familiar site in the loading race, Jon-Pall Sigmarsson took yet another victory, pipping the Finn Ilkka Nummisto who had to settle for second place. The other race used in 1990 was the penultimate event of the contest, and it was anvils which were to be loaded. There were five in total, ranging in weight from 120kgs to 160kgs, each to be put onto a separate platform. The event was structured in a similar fashion to the Atlas Stones today. That is, the heaviest anvil was nearest to the platform and the lightest the furthest away. The victor in this instance was the American O.D Wilson, with Jon-Pall Sigmarsson pushed into second spot. Wilson, considered by many to be the strongest man to have never taken the WSM crown, illustrated that in spite of his size he was more than able to match his rivals. This would also be evidenced in the forthcoming years by WSM mainstays such as Zydrunas Savickas, Terry Hollands and Brian Shaw, amongst others, who have shown that being some of the heaviest competitors in contemporary WSM does not mean that they lack in either speed or conditioning.

1991 in Tenerife saw yet another Icelandic triumph in the loading race, but this time it was four–time WSM winner Magnus Ver Magnusson. MVM had few problems loading the six 100kg objects onto a one metre platform, with the uphill, sandy course not hampering him. As with his compatriot Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Ver Magnusson was a competitor who could be counted upon to turn in solid performances in this event, regardless of the format.

WSM headed to Iceland in 1992, and a new twist to the event was added. Five 90kg barrels were the objects in question. However, the competitors had to go into a lagoon to retrieve the barrels, before returning them to dry land. With the water sapping the energy of the athletes, and a ferocious wind blowing, it was a brutal event for the contenders. Ver Magnusson overcame the conditions and repeated his victory from 1991, but was ultimately relegated to second place overall by Dutchman Ted van der Parre.

The loading race was used only once in 1994, in the third heat. It was contested in a similar format to two years earlier, with five 100kg barrels as the objects of choice, and they were stationed in the water at the Valley of the Waves. The major difference being that the heat and altitude of Sun City had replaced the wind and freezing temperatures of Iceland.  Irrespective of that, it was to be another win for Magnus Ver Magnusson, on his way to securing his second of four WSM titles.

In 1995, loading featured in one heat and the final. Heat two featured five 90 kg sandbags, which were to be collected from a small boat in the water, and returned to the shore to be loaded. Lithuanian Stasys Mecius took the win. In the final, there were five objects (sandbag 90 kgs, anchor 110kgs, wooden chest 70kgs, barrel 60 kgs, chain 250kgs), with soft Bahamian sand underfoot. Unlike in previous years, they had to be placed onto separate platforms, all of different heights, starting with the tallest platform and finishing on the shortest. The addition of a taller than usual first platform meant that 93 WSM Gary Taylor was unable to load the first object. When interviewed afterwards Taylor was able to illustrate the impact of adding staggered platforms when he stated that ‘I tried to jump it up, throw it up, head it up, but the wall was just physically too high for me.” The 6 feet 7 inch former Finland’s strongest man Marko Varalahti was victorious on his way to third place overall.

There were two loading races in the 1996 heats. The format of the ‘Maritime Medley’ was almost identical to 1995, except for the location switching from the sand of the Bahamas to Mauritius, and the 70kg chest swapped for a mast weighing 40kgs more. It was Scotsman Forbes Cowan who would take the win there. The other race was again one which had become established; with five 105 kg beer barrels being collected from water and returned to a platform on the beach. The Finn Jorma Ojanaho took first, ahead of Australian Nathan Jones, with Ver Magnusson in third.

1997 was a comparatively straightforward event in terms of terrain and objects. Six 105 kg barrels were to be loaded, and thankfully for the competitors, there was no substantial gradient to negotiate. However, with competitors tiring after a number of days in the blistering Nevadan temperatures it was always going to be a stern test. On the streets of Las Vegas, and under the neon lights of the multitude of hotels and casinos, the Dane Flemming Rasmussen took first with eventual winner Jouko Ahola one place further back.

WSM returned to Europe in 1999. The loading platforms were again of different heights, and the objects were broadly similar to 1995 and 1996 (100kg sandbag, 105kg beer keg, 110kg log, 105kg anchor, 240kg chain). 2000 WSM Janne Virtanen would post the fastest time of  the heats in Malta, with 42.05 seconds. This was one of five out of six event wins in the qualifying round for the Finn.

Skipping ahead to Sanya in 2006, the competitors had to wade into water to retrieve the kegs from a platform, before returning with them to the sand and loading them onto another platform. There were three kegs in total, each weighing 100kgs, and a time limit of 90 seconds.  As if that wasn’t draining enough, the sandy surface under the water was so soft, that WSM head referee Colin Bryce described it as like ‘almost like walking in treacle’. Latvian Raivis Vidzis chalked up the quickest time of all the heats, registering 1 minute 11.79 seconds.

In 2007 WSM returned to the USA, and with the St.Regis Monarch Beach complex as the backdrop, the loading race was the first event of the final. Four objects had to be loaded; two large blue barrels and two beer kegs, each weighing in excess of 110kgs. The grassy course was forty metres in length and rather than going in pairs, the competitors went in two groups of five. Five-time WSM winner Mariusz Pudzianowski finished at the head of the field, trailed by Terry Hollands and Dave Ostlund.

On the banks of the Kanawha river in Charleston, West Virginia, the loading race was the event that kicked off the contest in 2008 and featured in every heat. With sand beneath their feet, the aim was to deliver two 105kg kegs, and two 125kg sacks to a platform twelve metres away. American Dave Ostlund clocked the quickest time of all the heats (47.59 seconds), with Arild Haugen of Norway less than half a second slower in 48.03 seconds.

2010 saw the loading race utilised in both the heats and the final. In the heats four 110kg  beer kegs had to be loaded. The altitude, the heat, the sand, and the fact that this was the final event of the qualifying round further served to increase the difficulty. It was the WSM debutant, the Lithuanian Vytautas Lalas who would post the leading time of all the heats; 46.71 seconds.

In the final, the discipline remained at the Valley of the Waves, but made full use of the water in the Sun City resort. The ten finalists had to wade into the water to collect three 120 kg sandbags from platforms, before returning to the shallower water and loading them onto a 150 cm platform. In what turned out to be an extremely punishing event, four finalists were able to load all three sacks, with Travis Ortmayer leading the way. The Texan was trailed by the Russian Mikhail Kolyaev, fellow American Brian Shaw, and Ervin Katona of Serbia. Shaw had looked certain to record the winning time, but his third sandbag wasn’t secured on the platform.  As the giant Coloradan took his hands of it in order to stop the clock, it tumbled into the water, meaning that he had to settle for third place.

The loading race had undergone numerous transformations and alterations over the years but the basic aim remains straightforward in testing the endurance, speed, strength and conditioning of the competitors. The weights of the objects have increased, as has their awkwardness in many instances. However, this has been more than matched by the athletes who have demonstrated the ability to adapt to whatever challenges the loading race throws up.