JAMIE McNamara from O’Malley Park in Limerick City, now living in Hospital, would a be a great man to ask if you needed your car moved. Or your 14-tonne truck.
That’s the size of the truck 34-year-old Jamie pulled from a stand-still as one of the challenges that earned him third place in Ireland’s Strongest Man competition in Belfast.
“I’m happy with third that because it qualifies me for the UK Strongest Man event,” Jamie told the Limerick Post.
Other crazy challenges for Jamie and his fellow contestants included an 80kg over the head dumbbell lift, flipping a huge 400kg tyre (“I was very happy with that – I won that event,” said Jamie), lifting massive concrete ‘Atlas’ stones, and climbing steps while carrying steel boxes weighing 200kg.
“I’ve been training for 10 years. You don’t just wake up one morning and think ‘I’ll do a strong man challenge’,” Jamie explained.
The young dad trains three days a week and, when asked by the Limerick Post how many cattle he eats every day, he says that “I eat a lot of protein”.
Jamie’s 10-year-old son Daylan has autism and his proud father says the little lad “is a huge inspiration to me”.
“He was able to come to the competition in Belfast for the first time, because the crowds and noise are very difficult for him and I was just so delighted he was there.”
Jamie now has his sights on the UK Strongest Man challenge next year and, in the meantime, plans to compete in the Republic of Ireland Strongest Man competition in August this year.
“That would qualify me for the Belfast competition next year, I hope. I was happy with third this time because I ruptured my Achilies tendon 18 months ago and people said that was me finished. But it wasn’t. I’m back”.
