ChasingKaz - September 18, 2008

Last week, I did something I never thought I'd do without coercion, or at least duct tape around my hands and ankles: I traveled to West Virginia.

When it was first announced that 2008 World's Strongest Man was being held in Charleston, I was a bit skeptical as were many others. When you consider some of the exotic locations it's been held in the past, places like Victoria Falls, Zambia; Sun City, South Africa; and Tangiers, Morocco, Charleston, WV hardly seems to stack up. After seeing it in person, I can put to rest any doubts about whether Charleston was the best venue for the event.

Upon landing at the airport, it was evident that the entire town knew what was going on. The hotel shuttle driver immediately asked us if we were in town for the contest and proceeded to give us a detailed rundown of where each day's events were in relation to our hotel. At the restaurant, we were asked "Are you guys in town for the strongman contest?" Everywhere we went, everyone was abuzz with the excitement of hosting the event.

On the first day of the contest, we arrived at Magic Island to find the park nearly full. For a city of only 50,000, it was a good turnout. There were food vendors, sponsor tents, and even one of those blow up jumper things for the kids. Of course, the main attraction was the sand volleyball courts that had been set up to accommodate the day's events surrounded by hordes of people.

After winning his heat in the first event, hometown favorite, Phil Pfister did and interview in which he said he was happy to be in his hometown, but was disappointed at the turnout. He charged each person in attendance to bring two more people to the afternoon event, the keg toss. After a quick nap and a meal, my brother and I returned to the park to find that the crowd had indeed tripled, if not quadrupled!

Before:

After:

The second day of events saw an even more impressive and raucous crowd as the truck pull attracted so many people that they spilled out of the streets and into a nearby parking ramp to get a bird's eye view.

While the capacity crowd ambitiously cheered on each competitor, the city block erupted when Phil completed the event. Had Pfister won it all this year, the city of Charleston may have erected a statue of him, a la Rocky in Philadelphia. Even without the victory, I wouldn't rule it out. The man is absolutely legendary in the area!

After only being there for a few days, it was easy to see that TWI (the company that puts on the contest) made a wise decision in choosing Charleston. The people were enthusiastic and almost too nice. While it's set up to be a TV show and not much of a spectator friendly event, the crowd turned it into an event that was fun to attend with a festival like atmosphere.

Posted by Ben Hanson at 2:12 PM