Under overcast skies and a steady drizzle, it wasn’t all that hot and steamy for a July Saturday in Hilo.
Unless, of course, you were deadlifting cars, tossing stones – big boulders, actually – and lifting heavy metal logs over your head like Bronson Tiwanak and Devin Preston were.
Understandably, Tiwanak wanted a little relief.
“I’m going to find an ice pond,” he said.
If there is one thing Hilo is known for it’s rain. It’s also home to the only sanctioned strongman competition in the state, and feats of strength and moisture mingled for the first time at the Big Island Substance Abuse Council’s fifth annual Summer Jam, where a perennial champion and a first-time winner strong-armed the competition at Edith Kanaka‘ole Multipurpose Stadium.