Calling the action at the New Hampshire Highlander Games (Loon Mountain), David Barron told IronMind®, “It all came down to the last event.”

Earlier in the day, Sam McMahon had won the boulder clean and press (230 lb.) with 8 reps.  “Dan Ford had 7 and rookie Sam Grammer pulled a big upset taking third place with 3 good reps,” Barron reported.  Four-time World’s Strongest Man winner Magnus Ver Magnusson was the referee and he was running a tight ship, as one wag told IronMind®, “Magnus discounted a lot of close reps and is an evil man.”

From there, Dan Ford let it rip, as he “was last to go with the Jon Pall Stone . . . the first and only athlete to break 200 feet,” said Barron.  “The crowd cheered him all the way to 218 feet to win the event and take the overall lead.  Zolk was second, and McMahon third.

“There was barely a whisker's difference among the top five athletes going into the McGlashen Stones,” Barron said, setting the stage for the last event. 

“In the final clash between strongman and Highland athlete, it was Dan Ford, the steelworker and hometown hero from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, who loaded all five stones and claimed the overall title ahead of Mike Zolkewicz by half a point.  Dutch strongman and thrower Hans Lolkema, who never lifted a weight before he was 32 took third.”