BILL GAITHER/The Register-Mail

GalesburgÕs Scott Lynch works on his deadlift technique during a workout at the Iron Works Gym.

Competitors to give Railroad Days a lift

Push-Pull meet will include local lifters

Thursday, June 21, 2007

By BILL FORD

The Register-Mail

Like he has for the past four years, Dave Fisher, owner of the Iron Works Gym, has organized a Railroad Days Push-Pull Powerlifting meet. The event, which will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the old MSI building at 185 S. Kellogg, is something Fisher said he decided to pursue as another attraction at Railroad days.

"We started this meet four years ago to help Railroad Days out," Fisher said. "They were trying to find some events that would draw more people to town."

The event is what Fisher calls a "push-pull meet," which means competitors will attempt lifts on both the bench press and the trap bar.

Fisher said he had 35 lifters enter the meet last year, coming from as far away as Bloomington, Pontiac and Burlington, Iowa. This year, Fisher said he expects several of the same competitors from last year.

"It's a lot of good lifting. We got a guy that comes from Burlington, Josh Bigger, who competes in strongman competitions. He's a lot of fun to watch," Fisher said. "We got some real strong teenagers that are going to the teenage nationals in July that are making a stop here as a tone up for nationals. We're going to see some high-calibre quality lifters at this meet."

In addition to the people coming from far away, Fisher said there will also be a number of competitors from Galesburg as well. Fisher said there are a lot of great lifters in Galesburg including Rex McLaren and Scott Lynch. McLaren is the world bench press champion in the 132-pound weight group while Lynch recently took second place in the Master's Nationals recently.

While there are several competitors in the meet who compete on a national level, Fisher said Saturday's event is geared more towards lifters from Galesburg who don't get the chance to travel around the country to compete.

"This is kind of a fun meet. It's a regional thing," Fisher said. "Mainly what this is, it's for the guys at my gym that train hard all year. Some of them aren't full powerlifters and they don't go to meets like we do, so I give them something they can do. It's something to train for. It puts a little excitement into the air."

Eli Boone of Galesburg has lifted in the Railroad Days meet for the past three years and plans to do so again this year. Boone said he loves powerlifting but he can't afford to travel around, so he is glad Fisher has the meet in Galesburg.

"I just do it because I love it. I could go around and compete nationally if I had the money to buy the expensive weightlifting suit and travel," Boone said. "Right now I have young kids, so I just work out all year long in the gym and this is the one opportunity that I have to go out and have fun and do it in public."

While prizes are given out among different age groups and weight classes, Boone said he isn't concerned with winning anything on Saturday.

"It's more just fun and exciting," Boone said. "I'm just really trying to do good for myself. I'm not trying to beat my friends."

Weigh-ins will start at 8:30 a.m. and registration will be taken until 10 a.m. Entry fee is $25.