“It’s going to be the biggest cash meet in Canadian history,” said Mike Webber of XConditioning. “It’s going to bring all the best lifters from across the country to Prince George. It’s very exciting.”
XConditioning started holding powerlifting meets about four years ago and now hold two a year.
“We decided to expand it try and put on the best meets in the country,” said Webber. “We put the city on the map with the smaller meets. We did the nationals last year. This is above the nationals. People across the country are starting to notice and are coming to Prince George.”
The Saturday event will be pro meet, which will feature 20 of the best men and 20 of the best women lifters in the country going head-to-head. All weight classes are together and a co-efficient will be used to determine the winner.
The Sunday event will be an open day and Webber expects there will be about 60 lifters competing that day. There will also be more than 100 spectators crammed into the gym to get a look at the best this country has to offer.
It will be the first time that the XConditioning crew of Webber, Tara Bogh, and Jay Cook will all be competing together. Usually one of them has to stay behind to run the store while the others go and compete at events out of town.
And, of course, putting on such an event requires help from the community and Brink Group of Companies has stepped up to the plate with a $7,500 donation to become the title sponsor. Webber says the sponsorship is crucial.
“The sponsorship means it can be the biggest meet (in the country),” he said. “Without the sponsorship it wouldn’t be at the level it’s at.”
John Brink, owner of Brink Forest Products and competitive body builder, not only dropped the sponsorship cheque off Wednesday, he had Bogh put him through a training session. For him, the sponsorship fits in with the company’s mandate of supporting fitness and sports.
“We already have worked with Tara, Mike and Jay last year sponsoring one of the events they had,” Brink said. “This one is a national event, totally new for Prince George. When we had the opportunity to be one of the title sponsors because we know it’s going to be fabulous event.”
For Webber, Bogh, and Cook, the work of staging the event is well underway and all are excited about the May 26-27 event.
“This is comparable to the biggest meets in America,” said Webber. “It compares with the Arnolds or the Olympia.”
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