A teenager has become the first Cumbrian to win a British strongman title.
Keenan Pearson, 15, of Maryport, has been crowned Britain’s strongest man under the age of 17 after taking part in the strongman championship national finals at Kaos Gym, in Preston.
The youngster’s mum, Emma Pearson, said Keenan was left in complete shock after his win, as he has only been training in the sport for the past 10 weeks.
She said: “He was the youngest competitor there and he said if he came away in the top three he’d be happy. But when they called his name to say he had won, he was completely shell-shocked.
“He was saying, ‘there’s no way I’ve won, I haven’t won’, he was just gobsmacked. He’s only been doing it for around 10 weeks, so some of the categories he’s not even very familiar with just yet.”
Keenan beat 14 other competitors in the finals and competed in categories including the log press, a 180kg deadlift, the 200kg yoke/keg carry, sandbags to farmer, and sandbags to shoulders in order to cement his win.
He finished with an overall score of 63 out of 64 points and was five points ahead of the 17-year-old in second place.
The teenager weighs in at 22-and-a-half stone and can now deadlift up to 254kg – the weight of a fully grown grizzly bear.
But his decision to start training as a strongman competitor initially came from his love for rugby.
Emma added: “He used to go watch rugby league matches with his friends and he got talking to a lad that plays for Flimby Vikings, Ben Harrison. Ben said to him he would be a good fit for strongman events.
“So he went to his house and started training there and then a week later he started at the Cumberland Strongman Academy to get one to one training with coach Adam Rumney and he hasn’t looked back.”
Keenan competed in his first strongman competition in October where he was told to try out in the novice men’s class.
He was the youngest competitor at the event and competed against men up to the age of 39 – but impressively, he managed to come seventh.
The 15-year-old is now aiming to compete compete in more events including Cumberland’s Strongest Man competition in March and the Scotland Strongest Man championships next year.
His mum added: “Before he started doing the strongman training we never really knew much about it but Keenan would watch it.
“He’s taking everything in his stride, he’s never lost himself or been big headed about it all. He’s got a very mature head on his shoulders.
“But his main goal is to compete in Giant’s Live, he does want to be the next Eddie Hall basically!”
Keenan’s next competition will be a charity event for No Rainbows without Rain – SSC, a non-profit charitable organisation, providing help towards disadvantaged families, domestic violence survivors and other aspects of care in Cumbria.
The event will be held at Cumberland Strongman Academy on Saturday December 21 and he will be trying to beat his personal best deadlift of 254kg.
Keenan, who is in year 11 at Maryport’s Netherhall School, was also congratulated by the school on social media.
Mark Bailey, deputy headteacher, said: “Keenan has represented himself, his family, his school and the town of Maryport with absolute distinction and we are all incredibly proud of this superb young man.”
