Strong man competition raises money for Camp Quality

BELTON, Missouri - The rain delay did not break the spirits of those breaking a sweat Saturday.

Missouri’s Strongest Man: The Gus Lohman Memorial Challenge 7, raises money each year for Camp Quality, a place where children with cancer forget about their disease and have a chance to be a kid again.

This year’s event was held Saturday at Richards Gebaur Memorial Airport.

Gus Lohman was a farmer and loved to compete when his neighbors would hold strong-man meetings.

"Just working with him while I was growing up gave me the mental toughness and mental determination that something like this was going to soothe me," said Eric Todd, event promoter.

Todd started the competition in memory of his grandfather.

"He actually battled cancer for twenty years himself and so it's kind of that fighting spirit that we compete with today," said Todd.

Jeromy Moore was among 30 other competitors who came out with strong attitudes.

"What am I good at that will contribute to the helping those people and especially the kids who have the cancer to be strong," said Moore. "There's definitely a feeling of brotherhood here, people say that when they felt like they've been to a family reunion, and so where as everybody wants to beat the other guy they're competing with they've got a feeling that their doing something important here besides just lifting weights."

And that brotherhood showed how important it was to be out at the competition.

"There's no better feeling than doing something and spending your own money and your own time and effort to benefit someone else in need," said Moore.