GREENFIELD — Think you’re the strongest person in Franklin County? Franklin County’s YMCA might be able to help you answer that question this weekend. 

The YMCA is hosting its first-ever strongman competition, called Pioneer’s Strongest, on Saturday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Greenfield. Thus far, 84 men and women from all over the region are signed up to compete. 

The competition is a sanctioned event, with all competitors able to break state records. It will feature multiple events, ranging from the vehicle pull, tire flip, 18 inch wagon wheel deadlift, log press and the pioneer medley. There will also be a competition designed for kids.

“It’s been a lot of moving parts,” said Meet Director Joe Doyle, who helped coordinate, organize and run the competition. “It took a lot of different people to make things possible. Our bosses here at the Y have been great and there were a lot of people who lent us equipment to make it possible. It was a big learning curve. It was a lot different doing a competition versus planning one.” 

Not only will this be the first strongman event in Greenfield, it is the first of its kind in the area according to Russell Johnson — who is competing in the event and helped organize it.

“To my knowledge, this is the first strongman competition in the Pioneer Valley,” Johnson said. “They used to have the Island Games years ago at the fair but they never had a strongman competition. It’s cool bringing something new to families in the area.”

As Saturday’s competition features events not typically found in western Massachusetts, interest has been high. 

While those planning the competition expected around 50 participants, 84 athletes have signed up to compete on Saturday, coming from as far as North Dakota. 

Many are first time competitors, and the novice class will be the largest group in the competition. Thirty-four women are signed up as well.

“I wish the sport would become more popular than it is,” Johnson said. “It’s fun and the people there are very family friendly as well. It’s a family oriented event. You think it’s just going to be a bunch of macho dudes sweating and competing but it’s not that. You have kids hanging around, everyone is having fun. It’s like powerlifting where if someone is trying to lift something heavier than you, you cheer him on knowing if they can do it, they’ll beat you. You do that because you’re impressed and want to see people do well.” 

While many are competing for the first time, there will be some experienced competitors going for state records on Saturday. 

Set to compete is Eddie Shore III, grandson of former Boston Bruin and NHL Hall of Famer Eddie Shore. He recently competed in the Worlds Strongest Man contest.

Jug Durand, who placed second at the Ohio Arnold Powerlifting event, will also be at the Y on Saturday. 

Johnson himself is going for the state record in the 18 inch strongman deadlift, as he placed seventh at the strongman nationals a few months back. The judging panel for the event, which Doyle set up, is made up of several world record holders with experience in these events. 

A lot of planning had to go into making the event happen. From getting tires that range from 120 pounds to 950 pounds, to securing a bus for a bus pull, to finding atlas stones and sand bags. There was plenty of equipment the YMCA needed to have to make a strongman competition work. 

Through donations and much effort, they were able to get all the equipment needed to put on a big event.

“You’re just running around trying to find pieces of equipment to borrow,” Johnson said. “A lot of the stuff was donated. The last day or two has been a little crazy but everyone is doing well now. The way the programs run, they basically run themselves as long as you have all the equipment there.” 

The kids program is something the staff is also excited about, with 10-15 kids expected to compete on Saturday. 

To make it as enjoyable as possible, each kid will receive a T-shirt while the YMCA ordered foam plates for the barbells to make it look like each kid is lifting extremely heavy weight. 

“The kids are going to love it,” Johnson said. “It’s going to look like they’re lifting what the adults are.” 

Being the first event of its kind in the area, Doyle said he hopes this is the first of many to come. 

“We’re hoping to keep this moving forward as a yearly thing,” Doyle said. “Hopefully we can grow on the numbers and events we’re able to do each year.”