Trials of Heracles 2027: The Hydra Challenge

Trials is back for 2027! More details to come; I am finalizing with the arena this week and will be updating this page as well as https://www.instagram.com/omahastrongman/ with updates! I have a custom human drawn logo commissioned and in the works. It's been a full week at work and I'm still recovering from planning and running Bash 2026, but wanted to get this on iron podium promptly. Thank you for considering my charity event in your athletic calendar! Time was I never would have dreamed I would even be strong enough to compete in strongman, let alone seasoned and confident enough to run my own shows. Doing badass things for great causes with like-minded athletes who trust me to make good use of their time and treasure is a huge honor and something I hope to continue doing for many years, and honestly more important to my athletic legacy than anything I am likely to accomplish as a competitor myself.  This will again be an unsanctioned fundraiser supporting At Ease USA (https://www.ateaseusa.org/). All spectator ticket proceeds will be donated directly to the charity, even if I lose money on the event.I am proud to once again co-promote with our coach and the owner of Drip Athletic Club, Jordan Barboza. https://www.instagram.com/dripathleticclub/ He is planning a powerlifting expo alongside the strongman contest in the ample space we have in the Ralston Arena banquet room. I'm still in charge of the music, so expect plenty of Rammstein, The Pretty Reckless, The Hu and Dropkick Murphys. :) Sponsors and other fun stuff will be added to the page as I fill out the event and we get closer to show time. If needed after five events, the tiebreaker will be a Hephaestus front hammer hold for max time bringing back my custom welded loadable hammers from last year.  Adaptive athletes strongly invited to compete; please email me and I will happily work with you to open a custom class and plan adaptive variations for you. Hero athletes (Active Duty, Veterans, First Responders, and Frontline Healthcare Workers) also strongly invited to compete. If you're an active athlete, I encourage you to sign up for the usual weight and age class, but I will also gladly recognize you and your service during the event. If you are a Hero and not an active strength athlete, I will be setting the Hero class weights to be welcoming to you so you can see what Strongman is all about. Please message me if you have questions or are unsure; I want to give you a good experience and you will be hard pressed to find a more welcoming or encouraging athletic community to support your wellness. Masters 50+ and 60+ athletes also very much invited! STRONGMAN IS FOR EVERYONE. As above, please message me (unless your name is Jesse and you want to YOLO it with younger athletes!) and I'm happy to open a class and work to set challenging/doable weights. I would love to see some younger Junior athletes too; seeing children out crushing it alongside the pros at KC's Strongest 2024 remains a great memory and something I'd love to do at my show. Event one: Hydra lever deadliftYour first labor: Slay the Lernean Hydra, whose very blood is virulently poisonous. It will continue regenerating with every rep until the last!  I am taking inspiration from what I saw Kaizen and Kurtlocker do at Homegymcon in 2023, but it won't be a pure grip event like that since we have our titular Hercules Hold returning. Look up Louisiana's Strongest lever deadlift as that is what I am taking my inspiration from. I'll be purchasing 3x3 uprights from Stray Dog Strength and starting to fit and test as well as plan weights in coming weeks; updates here and on IG. It will be a sequence starting farthest from the pivot point and finishing with max reps on the heaviest eye bolt closest to the pivot point. I'll update weights and the time cap (60, 75 or at most 90 seconds) based on how long it takes for transitions when we are testing the implement. The listed weight will be the final weight for each class for reps at the end of the sequence It will be at least four different pivot points with the athlete transitioning the straight bar handle with a heavy duty carabiner themselves as they go.  Event two: Grapple with Antaeus overheadAccept the challenge from the belligerent Titan Antaeus on your way to steal the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides as you continue your Labors. Conquer via dominating gravity and lofting the axle away from the source of his strength, mother Gaia the Earth!  This will be an axle clean and press for max. 3 attempts, Wessel's rules: miss an attempt and you're out. 60 seconds per attempt. Any clean and press/jerk variation allowed, including belt cleans. Feet must be together with control demonstrated to get a down command and good lift. Bar must be controlled down to the ground to avoid it rolling into the judge; intentionally dropping the axle from overhead will result in a no rep and being done under Wessel's rules. Event three: Atalanta's Golden Apples bag over barYour third labor: win the allegiance of Atalanta, renowned warrior princess of Boeotia who grew up in the wild and modeled her physical and martial prowess after warrior and huntress Artemis. Unfortunately, she is a complete badass and you have no hope of besting her in a fair contest. Thankfully, Aphrodite has taken pity on us and given us golden throwbags to distract Atalanta until we can finish the event.  This will be using my DIY yoke based throwing standards inspired by the Highland Games and the excellent Valkyrie Strength throw bags Drip received from Wes Fuller for turning out in force as athletes and also providing the cutest spotter/loader I've ever seen at a strongman show (sorry Sterling, I mean Sarah not you) at The Greatest Strength Show 2026. Unlike the mythical footrace with Atalanta, regardless of results no contestants will be put to the sword. :)  Event four: Hercules holdYour fourth labor: show your demigod prowess and impress the denizens of Olympus with your grit and power! Our iconic event returns with my custom fabricated Hercules Hold. I will be reassessing the weights based on the times from last year with a goal of proper challenge without making it absurd so that we can again see some suitably epic feats of strength. Bells of Steel knurled 2" rotating handles, chains, the weight pillars, and from there it's all you! Train that grip! Event five: Calydonian Boar Hunt carry medleyThe final labor: run with the swiftness and power of Atalanta combined with the strength and perseverance of Heracles as a final epic deed of strength to close out your Trials! For our finale, I am still determining what I want to do here. Options include a sandbag steeple chase or a down and back featuring the Iron Crosses/Barry Carrys again. I'll update once I have a final plan and am open to athlete preferences; please reach out with what you want to see and do!