It might sound like a new kind of rock ‘n’ roll, but the “Scottish Heavy Event” is actually one of the oldest and purest forms of athletic competition. This weekend, more than 100 athletes will gather to heave logs, toss stones and swing hammers in the Masters World Championships at the Colorado Scottish Festival’s Rocky Mountain Highland Games.
“There’s a lot of heritage involved,” says Greg Bradshaw, whose father brought the Scottish athletic competition to Colorado in the late 1950s. “It goes back to the 1100s, when the clans were saying ‘our clans are better than yours’ and they proved it by picking up blacksmith’s hammers, or throwing the weights they used to weigh out flour.”
Some histories claim the Scottish events predate the Olympics. Now, the games are less about clannishness and more about sharing the history and the sheer physical challenge of the nine official Scottish heavy events.
The best-known is the caber toss, in which the competitor must pick up and run with an 18-foot pole, and heave it end over end so that it lands in a 12-o’clock position pointing away from the contestant.
The Elizabeth Celtic Festival July 17 and 18 gave Colorado athletes a chance to hone their caber-tossing and hammer-throwing skills for this weekend’s 10th annual Masters World Championships (Saturday) and regional Highland Games (Sunday).
More than 100 men and women ages 40 and over from the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada and 34 states will vie for international titles. “It’s the largest collection of amateur Scottish athletes in any one competition,” said Wayne Staggs, president of Rocky Mountain Scottish Athletics and a masters competitor.
“It connects us to something historical. There’s something in the roots that compels me to do this. It is a pure form of ancient athletics,” said Staggs, dressed for the Elizabeth games in a blue T-shirt, red tartan kilt, bright blue knee supports, and a weightlifter’s belt “to hold up my kilt.” A leather sporran (“it’s a man purse,” says his girlfriend, Sandy Mielke) strapped to the belt completed his competition ensemble.
Staggs won his age group (60-64) last year at the worlds in Inverness, Scotland, and came in fourth in the recent Elizabeth games. He explained how it feels to perform the caber toss (the poles weigh 60 to 150 pounds):
“First, you pick it up and get control and balance. That works the lower back and hamstrings. Then you start moving forward slowly. I usually try to take four steps at one pace, then I speed up and it becomes more about the upper body and core. It’s like driving a blocking sled in football.” Except you’re still balancing that pole.
“You have to be able to run with it. Then you stop. And you pull up as the caber comes off your shoulder. You pull very hard with your hands as you flip the caber forward. It works the trapezius muscles like a power clean lift,” says Staggs, who, like many Scottish games athletes, is also a weightlifter.
“It’s a he-man-type competition,” says Bradshaw, who comes from a long line of he-men. “Many of the athletes also compete in strongman and power-lifting events. But one of the things that makes these games different is the brotherhood and the sisterhood among the athletes.”
Sisterhood? Yes, women compete in their own categories. And you don’t have to be Scottish, but you do have to wear a kilt.
“Why? Tradition,” says Staggs, who says the traditional garment does not interfere with his performance. “It helps — it’s fairly nonrestrictive.”
Which brings us to the question everyone wants to ask. What do the athletes wear under their kilts?
“For athletic competitions, spandex,” says Staggs with a smile. “But traditionally, nothing is worn underneath the kilt.”
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
47th Annual Colorado Scottish Festival
Masters World Championships in Scottish athletics, pipe, drum and Celtic music performances and competitions, bagpipers, British dog and car show, rugby exhibitions, and Scottish-style food and drink, including haggis tasting.
9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Highlands Heritage Park, 9651 S. Quebec St., Highlands Ranch, (two miles south of C-470)
Tickets: adults $17; children and seniors $12; children under 7 free.
Information: 303-238-6524;
For more information on Scottish athletics and a local practice schedule, go to .
