Strongmen ran rampant in Bowling Green, Ohio this past Saturday, lifting people, throwing weights and pulling fire trucks with their hair.

The fourth annual Atomic Athletic Great Black Swamp Olde Time Strongman Picnic featured feats of strength and spectacle, as well as educational clinics on strength training. The picnic has become more popular in recent years by an increased interest in both functional strength training and strongman performances, which were once a staple of circus sideshows.

“I brought it back to show all the different manifestations of strength that are out there,” Roger LaPointe, president and founder of Atomic Athletic, said. “Trying to show some of the best of the best doing it for everybody else.”

The performances began with truck pulls followed by atlas stone lifting, an event where heavy stone spheres are picked up from the ground, popularized by the World’s Strongest Man competition. Competitive and amateur strongmen participated, lifting stones up to 290 pounds.

Brothers Nick and Stewart Rosendaul showcased their strength by bending horseshoes, frying pans and metal bars, along with ripping decks of cards. A highlight of the performance was a balancing act where Stewart hoisted his daughter Brianna above his head.

Later performances emphasized showmanship, with displays by professional strongmen Andrew Durniat and Logan Christopher. Under the name Andrew Durniat and his Flying Dumbells, Durniat juggled metal weights and performed stunts with barbells weighing over 100 pounds. Christopher pulled a classic fire truck across a parking lot using just his hair.

The two also participated in a juggling competition with rules similar to the basketball game, H-O-R-S-E, but using large weights. Durniat worked with LaPointe to develop a throwback to circus strongmen that would combine power and showmanship.

“I did a single arm snatch with a bar he made, and he said, ‘Hey, what else can you do?,'” Durniat said.

LaPointe suggested they work together to replicate a routine that had been popular in the ”30s but not practiced since.

“I went into the gym and started toying around with it, and right now I’m the only one around that is doing this routine,” Durniat said.

The inspiration for Christopher’s hair pulling truck act came from a similar source.

“I read about an old time strongman by the name of the Mighty Adam, and he did many feats of strength, one of which was pulling vehicles by his hair,” Christopher said.

“On two separate occasions he stopped a small airplane from taking off with his hair. After reading that and getting into the strongman thing I decided to give it a try. Its just been bigger vehicles each time.”

The picnic was about more than spectacle with several educational lectures on lifting and martial arts. Special attention was given to Olympic lifting, with demonstrations given by three-time Olympian Fred Lowe and Todd Baden, owner of Synergy Sports and Performance in Toledo. Olympic lifting is focused on a few specific lifts that emphasize athleticism and speed, as well as power.

“There’s more and more of the functional craze of trying to mimic movement in sports,” Baden said. “The quest to make something more explosive or powerful has brought to the forefront focus on movements.”

Circus Vera, a Bowling Green-based circus troupe filled in the spaces between strongmen acts, including performances such as walking on a staircase made of machetes, fire eating and glass walking. Circus Vera contributed to the carnival atmosphere, bringing a side-show of preserved animal mutations. The group was founded in December 2008 by BGSU student Logan Jacot.

Other shows at the event were martial arts demonstrations and a performance by Bob Nickerson. Nickerson is a comedic juggler who goes by the name the Jock-ular Juggler.

The picnic has increased in length each year since its inception, and performers from as far as Russia have contacted LaPointe about getting involved. LaPointe has already found strongmen to be involved for next year, and is focused on growth and improvement in the future.

“It just keeps getting bigger every year. We have constant mini-clinics and performances that will easily take up to six hours today,” he said. “It’s very possible that this could end up being a multi-day event at some point, because we keep going a little bit earlier and a little bit later for the start and finish.”