Sport / Shetland to host UK strongman event for first time
SHETLAND is to host a UK-wide strongman competition for the very first time next month.
The UK’s Strongest Man under-70kg event will come to the Clickimin in Lerwick on Saturday 25 April, giving local strength enthusiasts the chance to see some of the country’s top athletes competing up close.
Local strongman Cameron Nisbet, who won the inaugural event in 2024, will give the crowd a home interest and something to roar about too.
Spectators will be treated to remarkable feats of strength, with competitors deadlifting cars, pressing a motorised trike overhead and lifting Atlas stones.
There is also the potential for a new world record attempt in the wooden log overhead lift.
The decision to bring the competition north comes with Shetland’s strongmen and women continuing to achieve impressive results at events around the world.
Promoter Ashley Lapidge says the success of the local scene was among the main reasons why he wanted to bring the competition to Shetland.
“When you think of Shetland, you do think of strong people,” he told Shetland News.
“It just came to me one evening, what would it really take to get it to Shetland?”
Nisbet was initially sceptical about the idea, he admitted. He said Lapidge messaged him in late October 2025 about bringing the event north, but Nisbet took it as being “very tongue in cheek”.
“I said to him, ‘well it’s possible, but once you see the price you won’t want to’,” Nisbet said.
Lapidge admitted that the cost of bringing equipment and competitors to Shetland almost did derail the plans, but they persisted and pressed ahead.
The man behind the Shetland Weight Training Club in Scalloway, Stuart Moar, said he “never thought” an organiser would bring an event like this to Shetland – purely because of the cost.
Moar said a decade ago the organisers of World’s Strongest Man, Giants Live, were contacted about bringing a competition here but it was “going to be crazy money”.
“I always it would be brilliant to see something like this going ahead,” Moar said.
The UK’s Strongest Man under-70kg competition will bring 15 top athletes to the isles next month, with feats including log lifts, car lifts and Atlas stones.
Lapidge said they expected some competitors to pull out because they would have to take time off work to attend, but people had been “really keen” to take part.
“They’re buzzing,” he said. “They’re really excited about it, but maybe not so excited about the ferry trip…”
Nisbet thinks that the cost of coming to Shetland has “opened some of their eyes” to what the likes of himself and Fazekas experience every time they travel down to compete.
He was the winner of the very first UK competition for the under-70kg weight class in Atherstone in April 2024, and is sure to be one of the favourites when it arrives in Lerwick next month.
A seasoned winner, Nisbet admits he is “more nervous” about performing for the home crowd than he usually would be.
“Usually I think if I make an arse of myself who carse, nobody here knows me,” he laughed.
“But this time you’ll have around 300 people you really know watching you try to lift, and I’ll be one of the favourites to do well.
“It’s definitely exciting, but I think the pressure’s really going to be on for this one.”
Moar said there was a “good buzz” about the Scalloway gym about the event, with folk desperate to come and help out on the day to see it unfold up close.
The under-70kg weight category is a relatively newly emerging class, but Lapidge said it had become “one of the best classes going” to watch.
“Ten years ago people said, ‘who would want to watch the under-80kg’,” he said.
“But you’re going to see some of the best feats of strength that really have ever been done for this weight class.
“One guy is probably going to weigh in at about 60kg, but these guys are lifting things that guys 20kg heavier than them can’t do.”
Moar adds that he thinks spectators will be “blown away” by the quality on show next month.
“Folk are going to be seriously impressed by how much these guys can lift.”
Nisbet says the event will show you do not have to be a “huge 6ft 8 Tom Stoltman to lift these weights”.
And he hopes they will be able to put on a “show and spectacle” for everyone who snaps up tickets.
Bringing more events like this to Shetland would be “cool”, he admits, adding he would like to see a strongwoman competition come up next.
“It would be good to have Shetland just be somewhere that people think about, and if they’re organising a competition to say ‘what about Shetland?’”
“I don’t see why Scotland’s Strongest Man couldn’t be held there,” Lapidge added.
Tickets are on sale now for the UK’s Strongest Man under-70kg event, priced at £5 for adult tickets. Under 16s pay £2.50 and children under five are free.
You can get tickets here, with the competition starting at 3pm at Clickimin on Saturday 25 April.
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