You don’t have to look very far to find Canada’s fourth strongest woman.
Courtenay’s Lataisha Maynard did a lot of the heavy lifting to earn that distinction at the national amateur competition in Fort McMurray, Alta.
The top athletes from each province competed in a series of five very heavy and gruelling events for a chance at the podium.
Maynard’s highlights included:
- 8 reps on a 385lb tire axle
- 2 reps on 150lb 12” log
- 185lb/hand (370 lbs total) Farmer Walk approximately 200 feet
- 25, 30, 35, 40lb sandbags over 15 foot high bar
- 150, 175, 200lb staggered sandbags to finish
“All the athletes were extremely strong and everyone gave their best performances so the results could have been shuffled at any time,” Maynard told Vista Radio.
“I’m just so grateful to have had the opportunity to compete with such talented women all over Canada…and although I missed the podium this year by 2.5 points, that means it’s back to the grind where I intend to set my sights on the podium next year.”
Maynard said that while it’s called strongman, she hopes that doesn’t turn women off from trying such a rewarding and encouraging sport.
“Women have the same classes as men-lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight and Masters (over 40) so there’s a category for everyone and the strength community is so supportive to new lifters-even the pros had to start somewhere,” she explained.
“I hope my journey brings more attention to this niche sport and it continues to grow with more (men and women) athletes in our local community and ultimately inspires others to get more active and improve their health in general by lifting heavy things or otherwise.”
She’s now home, where she will continue training for next year with HGG (Hayes Garage Gym) group run by local Comox Valley Strongman Pro Sean Hayes, who Maynard says, “continues to produce some of the top strength athletes for the sport in B.C. and Canada.”
