TAYLOR — Competitors from Northeast Pennsylvania to New Mexico tested their limits during a strongman competition Saturday to benefit a local volunteer fire department.
Michelle Jones, fundraising chair for Taylor Fire Rescue, organized the inaugural Firehouse Fury event which she hopes becomes an annual tradition in the borough.
The department raised approximately $4,500, said Mark Kania, public relations officer for Taylor Fire Rescue.
In addition to the $75 participation fee, Taylor Fire Rescue volunteers ran a basket raffle and 50/50 drawing to generate funds, Jones said.
The money will be used to upgrade equipment around the firehouse, she added.
“For a first time event, it’s hard to gauge what the turnout will be, but I’m happy with what we got today,” Jones said.
Jones – who has participated in strongman competitions for five years – teamed up with her husband, Wes, a volunteer with Taylor Fire Rescue, to make the event a reality.
Among the 42 competitors – a mix of males and females from several states – were A’Leia Stull, 35, of Old Forge, who participated in her first strongman event, and Steven Folk, 57, of Munroe Falls, Ohio, who got back into the strongman circuit about four years ago.
Stull, a career firefighter for the Kingston/Forty Fort Fire Department, who organizes a 5K race to benefit the Old Forge’s volunteer firefighters, specifically enjoyed the fire extinguisher press.
“I did CrossFit for a long time and I’ve been training on my own the last couple years,” she said. “When Michelle said she was doing this, it’s right up my alley. We kind of work together – she comes to our events and we come to their events.”
Stull – who placed first in the female hero division, consisting of first responders – navigated the competition which included the fire extinguisher press, a fire truck pull, keg loading, a fire tool hold and a fire hose medley, and liked the strenuous challenge.
“Anytime you come to any kind of competition, the point is to go all out and this competition allows you to do that and have fun, of course,” Stull said.
Folk previously participated in strongman events for about eight years in the early 2000s and became re-engaged with the competitions four years ago after about a decade hiatus.
“It’s a fun way to keep in shape and how often do you get a chance to pull a firetruck,?” Folk joked. “It also keeps me motivated. If I don’t have an end goal in sight, it’s easy to slack off.”
The location and date lined up well for Folk, who participates in about one strongman competition each year, and he was impressed by the smoothness of the operation.
“This is one of the best organized ones I’ve ever been to,” he said. “She’s done a phenomenal job – everything was already set up and it had rotating events. I’ve done some where you were there for 8 to 10 hours.”
Folk chose the word “fun” to describe pulling a 40,000-plus pound firetruck during the competition.
“It’s hard to get it going, but once it got going it wasn’t bad,” he said.
