A lakecity duo made their mark — all while helping fundraise for a good cause — at Edmonton’s Shellshock 5 powerlifting and strongman competition Nov. 7-8.
Ksenia Kolodka and Tyson Delay made the 12-hour drive east to Edmonton’s Evolve Strength North gym where Kolodka competed in several powerlifting events, while Delay had his sights set on a new personal record in the strongman deadlift to wrap up a busy year of strength competitions for the pair.
“Ksenia was very pleased, for the most part, with her meet,” Delay told the Tribune, after Kolodka finished third overall in the women’s 60-70 kilogram class.
Battling a shoulder injury heading into the event, Kolodka opted to bench press the minimum, however, later gritted out a 256-pound deadlift which rocketed her back up the standings. Kolodka finished off the competition with a 183-pound squat for the third-place result.
“Her squat has really started improving, and she wanted to go up to 200 pounds, but aside from that she was happy with her deadlift,” Delay said.
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In his events — axle deadlift, block press and ‘rolling thunder’ — Delay, competing in the 105-kilogram category — said he entered the competition focused on a new personal record in the deadlift, while treating the other two events as a learning experience.
“My goal going in there was to deadlift 600 pounds,” he said. “For my first lift I went out there and strapped on to 525 pounds for my opener and it felt like an absolute brick load. It felt terrible, but went up like the bar was empty.”
His next attempt at 570 felt the same way, he said, flying up just as fast.
“Three guys went before me and all failed 600 pounds, and they were quite a bit bigger than me. I’m standing there looking at the bar — I haven’t done this in a real long time — and I pulled out one of my big, thick rubber bands and used it as a whip and just lashed myself on the back and got super amped up. I went into full on berserk mode … next thing I know I’m standing up with it, and thinking this is amazing. I was just over the moond, and it made my entire weekend.”
The 600-pound lift was a 35-pound personal record for Delay — a feat he said he’d been working on the whole year.
“I just haven’t had it in me every time I’ve tried,” he said.
In the block press Delay completed a 140-pound lift, before stopping at 180 pounds.
“The final event was the ‘rolling thunder,’” he said . “It’s more a of a grip event. You have a handle about the size of a coke can and it spins (with a large weight attached to the bottom). You have to single-arm deadlift this thing and hang onto it while it moves, so I found it challenging. I’d never had a chance to practice the event before, but I did 133 or 136 pounds.”
Aside from finishing third in his weight class, Delay finished ninth overall.
Funds raised at Shellshock 5, organized by Delay’s Misfit team sponsors, will be used to help Canada’s veterans and ex military members, along with first responders, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
“We were just trying to raise some money and awareness for those people who suffered for us,” he said.
greg.sabatino@wltribune.com
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