The 2009 Arnold Classic and Sports Festival – the way I saw it….
This was an awesome weekend for the sport of Kettlebell Lifting. This supposed “fringe” sport that is on the verge of death seemed to be thriving, alive and well this past weekend in Columbus, OH at the AKC/IKFF/NAKF/Fe kettlebell competition. This contest was the first-ever kettlebell lifting contest at the Arnold Classic. For those of you who don’t know, the Arnold Classic is in its 21st year and has grown into one of the premier sports festivals and fitness expos in the world. Although it originally began as a bodybuilding competition, it has grown to offer a wide variety of sports including powerlifting, weightlifting, martial arts, cheerleading, strongman, archery, and many others.
Chriss Silverstein, Lorraine Patten, Matt “Matty Mac” McNamarra and Andrew Durniat all need to be credited for an exceptional job at getting this meet together and organized. Aside from the 2 hour “Arnold delay” (more on that later) this meet was a huge success and a fantastic example of how the sport is growing. We had something like 120 participants and registration had to be closed off at that point!
I first heard about the event last December and decided I wanted to be a part of it. I had a powerlifting meet scheduled for May 3, 2009 and wasn’t planning on doing any competitive kettlebell training, but that changed when the Arnold happened. I’ve been pushing my kettlebell training and powerlifting simultaneously and it’s been pretty exhausting! However the training paid off, I went from doing 20 reps in 5:00 with the 24kg bells at the AKC Classic in Vegas last May to getting a new personal record at the Arnold of 37 reps in 10:00. Incidentally this was my first 10:00 set ever, best in this training cycle was 7:00, so I was pretty happy with my performance overall.
I saw many great lifters this weekend and I unfortunately do not remember everyone’s names or performances (I should since I spent the whole day reading people’s names thanks to Lorraine giving me the choice of being the meet MC or the meet MC). In addition to the lifting it was great to see all my old friends and meet all my new friends, many of whom I’ve only known from various internet discussion forums. If I leave someone out I apologize, I’m still a bit sleep deprived!
I got into Columbus mid-afternoon on Friday after driving all day from Atlanta. I checked into my hotel, relaxed for a couple of minutes, then made my way to the weigh-ins at 4pm at the Holiday Inn. I ran into Lorraine who was about ready to ring my neck for getting there so late. Our initial conversation went a little something like this:
Me – “Hi Lorraine! How are you?”
Lorraine – “You stupid SOB! What the hell took you so long? Are you mine now? Are you here to work? Do I have you for the rest of the night?”
Me – “Sure Lorraine, no problem! Just let me go weigh in real quick!”
*Postscript, rather than suffer the wrath of Lorraine I snuck out the back of the Holiday Inn and made my way over to the Convention Center to check in with the AKC booth at the Arnold Expo. Sorry Lorraine! But that’s how it happened…. You scared me.
Once to the expo I ran into my friends Eric and Heather who came down to check out the Expo and watch me compete, as well as brought me a goodie bag of snacks and supplements! Thanks guys! In addition my friend Renee (who I haven’t seen since we graduated high school in 1993) is living in Columbus and she came out to visit and spend time with me and all my crazy friends. Thanks Renee, great to see you!!
My good friend and business partner Cathy came up to check out the expo and was kind enough to come watch me lift and take some pictures. Great seeing you Cathy and thanks for doing the pics for me!
Finally got to meet the legendary Krystina from the AKC who I only knew as an email signature up til’ this point! Krystina is a great girl who does a lot of grunt work. She seems to like it though, although probably not as much as being pressed overhead by a couple of kettlebell lifters.
I got to meet Lori Rudach at the booth. Lori is a very nice girl and makes some very awesome and very unique kettlebell swag! Cool stuff Lori and great meeting you finally!
Always great to see Eric, Valery and Jon from the AKC and they did a great job with the booth, awesome location on the expo floor too. No doubt the AKC got some great exposure this weekend as a result.
I finally got to meet Mike Stefano this weekend. Mike is a great guy, very nice and personable. This dude cares about kettlebell lifting and it is very apparent. When he wasn’t over judging the meet he was working the AKC booth helping participants who were participating in the kettlebell challenge. Mike made sure to spend ample time with each person at the booth going over the finer points of our lifting style. Good stuff.
It was great to see Ross Gilling and his beautiful wife Sarah again. Ross competed at my meet in Atlanta in December and put up some great numbers only to up the ante even more at the Arnold. This guy is a great lifter with exceptional technique. Sarah is an awesome lifter as well and these two will no doubt continue to do quite well in this sport.
It was very nice to meet Rebecca Cate and I enjoyed speaking with her about the business aspect of training. Good luck with your facility Rebecca! Next time my wife and I are in Philly I hope to come do some training with you!
Sara Hallas and Tracey Maurice came up from NC for the competition. This was their second competition and it was amazing to see how much better their technique was and how much stronger they’ve gotten since the December Atlanta meet at my gym. Always great to see you girls and happy birthday Sara!
Phillip “P-Hump” Humphry is probably the nicest guy in kettlebell lifting, if not the world. His lifting is coming along very well and it’s always a pleasure to hang out with him. Not only is P-Hump a cool guy, he was a certified fitness-girl chick magnet this weekend. No kidding, he had fitness girls rappelling out of the ceiling to get to him. It was like one of those stupid Axe deodorant commercials. Crazy!
Cate Imes – always great to see Cate. Not only to witness some exceptional lifting but she’s the only other person who is as enthralled with Marty’s blog as I am. Don’t worry Cate, some day we’ll make sense of that damn thing. It’s palpable, ya’ know? 
Kev Jodrey – Kev it was great to meet you and talk training with you. Cona is a great young lifter!
Speaking of great young lifters, Mitch Blackburn (Ken’s son) is a very skilled lifter and was a pleasure to watch compete. With these juniors up and coming the US will become a force to be reckoned with at the international level!
Angry Goat crew – it was great to see Celia, Chris, Conner and Colin Wells again! Colin’s amazing, that kid can’t set the bells down! Before his set he’s lifting the bells, on the platform he’s lifting the bells, AFTER his set he’s still lifting bells! Heck, after my set I don’t want to lift bells for a good 3 or 4 weeks!
It was nice to meet Jason and Kim Turko. Next time I’m in Pittsburgh I’m looking forward to training with you both!
Ken Black – nice to finally meet you and great lifting! Ken’s a strong guy for sure.
Speaking of strong guys, John Wild Buckley is one of the biggest dudes I’ve ever seen and probably one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. John great to finally meet you! Funny story, just after his 32kg long cycle set, John tried to perform his patented “Steve Cotter Press”. John was a little fatigued and had a hard time locking Steve out, so he asked for something lighter to warm up with. What weighs about half a Cotter? None other than Marty Farrell. It was funny, John didn’t even bother pressing Marty, he just straight arm snatched him!
Jason Dolby was there representin’ in the amateur men’s long cycle in my flight. Jason’s a great lifter and one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Great lifting with you Jason!
What is a kettlebell meet without a strong showing from the Ice Chamber crew? That’s easy; it just isn’t a kettlebell meet without them! The only thing Steven K was missing was a press badge. I’ve never seen more cameras attached to one person. Precisely why the Ice Chamber blog has some of the best kettlebell pics and videos you’ll ever see! The girls showed up and kicked butt. Maya did the long cycle and Sara, Jessica and Surya did the biathlon, and as usually cleaned some clocks. These girls are awesome! By the way Surya, did we ever find out if it was “fleet” or “flight”?!?!
Steve Cotter – always great to see you buddy and great lifting as well! Good to see you getting back into the competitions.
Scott Helsley and I finally got to meet after exchanging numerous emails the past couple of months. Scott is a very impressive lifter and a heck of a nice guy, unless you shaft him on a watch deal. Great to finally meet you Scott!
Chris “C-Duff” Duffy. My brother from Boston. This was Duff’s first meet lifting with 32kg bells and I’ll say this, he eats red kettlebells like they were M&M’s. This guy is a dangerous land animal, like one of those African Buffalo with the curly horns. Strong guy with a bright future in the sport. He’s also a great coach, nutritionist and friend. I got myself through minutes 1-6 of my set, Duffy got me through minutes 6-10. Without him standing behind me threatening to rip my head off if I set the bells down before minute 10, I probably would have wound up with a 6 minute set. Thanks Duff! You’re the man!
Marty – great lifting brother. I know it was a little less than you wanted but a PR is a good day. Nice work with the 60kg at the AKC booth on Sunday as well. Glad we got to hang out and chill during some down time on Sunday night and I’m still cracking up about the crab cakes! LOL!
Chriss and the NY Posse! My new friends from NY rock. Chriss, Joe and Rick it was so great to meet you and I enjoyed the after meet party with you guys. I hope to make it up to NY to visit and train with you guys some time. Chriss thanks for stepping up and taking over MC duties at the meet, but if you’re going to continue we’re going to need more projection! LOL! Oh and Chriss, I did hear the words of encouragement during my set through Duffy’s growling! Thanks!
The crew – Andrew, Lorraine, Matty Mac and Ken. Great to see you all again! Andrew did very well in the pro biathlon division, and after working his butt off setting up for the meet. Lorraine, Matt and Ken did what they do best, keep the meet running. I’m convinced Matt is a wizard (or as Duffy would say, a “wizid”) even with the big “Arnold-delay” he re-worked things a bit and I think the meet was finished about 15-20 minutes than it would have without the 2 hour delay. Good stuff people!
Oh yeah, that Arnold guy walked through the expo and delayed the meet a couple of hours. Nice recovery Matt Mac and thanks for finding the hook up at the hotel for the UFC fights, good times! Other highlights included meeting Chuck Zito and Dick Hartzel at the expo and running into Joe Lewis at the Holiday Inn.
I actually ventured out to the expo a bit on Sunday, what a zoo. It was 99% supplement companies all offering the same crap – samples of protein bars or protein shakes. The expo is pretty lame for me anymore and seeing comic book characters come to life just bores me to tears. IMO bodybuilding is getting out of hand and completely ridiculous. I went to one IFBB show a couple years back and the difference between the male competitors is height and the difference between the male and female competitors is boob jobs and lip-stick. Pretty sad.
To all my kettlebell friends – it was an honor to share the platform with you this weekend! Thanks for everything you do to help promote and grow this sport. This was a top-notch event and I was happy to be a part of it! See you all at the next one and if anyone is interested I’m shooting for two Atlanta meets this year – June and December. Contact me for more information!
Scott
