We're talking over three hundred pounds on an under six-foot tall frame, so when you're discussing Ryan Vierra, you're talking stout.


Ryan Vierra, shown on his way to winning the 2005 Highland Games World Championships (Fergus, Ontario, Canada), is doubling up this year: going for both the traditional heavy events title and Douglas Edmunds' hybrid, the Highlander Games. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.
 

No mere pile of inert beach muscle, Ryan Vierra can throw, as his five Highland Games World Championships titles attest, but in addition to going for his sixth title in the traditional heavy events, Vierra will be entering this year's Highlander Games World Championships.

At the moment, Vierra said that he sees five guys in the running for the Highland Games World Championships: defending champion Gregor Edmunds, along with Sean Betz, Larry Brock, Bruce Robb and Ryan, himself. "Sean Betz and Larry Brock are on fire right now," Vierra told IronMind. "Any of these guys could win," said Vierra. "It will come down to how bad their weaknesses hurt them . . . who's going to get hurt the most."

Explaining that he is in charge of organizing this year's Highland Games World Championships (May 3 in Bridgeport, West Virginia), Vierra said he is working with a very solid budget that will allow for staging the contest at an exceptionally high level.

Fast forward to July 19 - 20, and watch for Ryan Vierra to join in the friendly carnage at the Highlander Games World Championships, Dr. Douglas Edmunds' latest foray into the strength entertainment world, as he "sexes up" the Highland Games by combining elements of the traditional heavy events with some taken from strongman, all the while maintaining his preference for something like gladiatorial combat laced with historical elements adapted especially for the occasion.

Saying that traditional Highland Games are dying, Edmunds told IronMind® that the solution is to "sex up" their presentation. "And that's what we're doing," said Edmunds.

Not everyone is in favor of Edmunds' approach, but count on Ryan Vierra to jump into the fray, eagerly waving the flag of his newest sponsor, Orbix International.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Vierra. "This will be a new chapter in my career . . . I'm going to lay my body on the line."