Today, I am flying over to Molokai for the "Strongman" competition. What an adventure. This was my first trip to Molokai and friends told me not to blink because the airport is a very small one. Yes indeed it was. I was surprised that we found the airport, "whew" it was like going back into the twilight zone. There was hardly anyone around when we landed, except for several men that looked like NFL football players. I later learned it was the Strongman crew from Honolulu that was helping out for the event. The team leader was Mr. Tony Leiato and they were nice enough to offer me a ride if I didn't already have one. I have to say the people of Molokai are "awesome" and have so much "ohana." I spoke to Tony Leiato (photo top right) who gave me some insight on the Strongman competition. His good friend, Peter Pale (photo top left) is the coordinator of this year's Na Pu'uwai 1st Annual Fitness Expo competition on Molokai. He said the Strongman competition here is specifically for Molokai, and is the brain child of Peter Pale, long time athlete, football player who now resides on Molokai. He wanted to do a strongman show to get the public involved in the health and fitness aspect of life. Why not bring everybody out to watch people do crazy strength feats like pulling a truck, flipping a 800 lb. tire, Atlas Stone lifting, bench press, dead lift and things like this. Tony also related that the Strongman event has been going on for the past 3-4 years. So who should we be watching in this year's competition? I am told that Peter Pale is the strongest guy on Molokai right now and this is the first year he has opened it to outside competitors from the outer islands. Should be interesting.
Well, today's competition was something to see. The master of ceremonies was "CHAMP" (photo right) Kaneshiro, and he was the highlight of this competition, funny to the max! I am surprised the contestants could concentrate... Anyway, I met up with Peter Pale and he explained that this is the 1st Annual Fitness Expo. This year they decided to combine the Health Fair and 10k run walk which is usually held during the winter months, with the Strongman Competition. At today's event, there was lots of food, and educational booths dealing with fitness. I want to congratulate Peter Pale on winning this year's competition and keeping the trophy on Molokai, and also for continuing to be the "strongest man" on Molokai. Congratulations also goes out to all the other contestants and again, thank you Peter Pale, Tony Leiato, Ricky Morris, Andy Ramos and to Mr. Joe Dillon, for my ride to and from the event. See more photos, "CLICK HERE".
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