{"id":167,"date":"2015-01-12T15:45:57","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T20:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=167"},"modified":"2015-01-12T15:53:08","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T20:53:08","slug":"living-a-strong-life-in-the-fast-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=167","title":{"rendered":"Living a strong life in the Fast lane"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kevin<\/a>
Kevin Fast stands with his BrandLaureate Award in July 2014. The award is presented by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation to individuals who have excelled in their industries and contributed to the world at large with their expertise.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Joel Wittnebel\/Active Senior’s Digest<\/p>\n

The man has hauled fire trucks, full family-sized homes, two-storey mining trucks and military airplanes. He\u2019s had 500 kilograms worth of wine casks, and cheerleaders piled on his back (at separate times of course) and he\u2019s arm-wrestled with dump trucks. These feats have landed Kevin Fast in the Guinness Book of World Records 21 times and he\u2019s showing no signs of stopping now.
\nThe 51-year-old father of three lives in Cobourg where he has been the reverend at St. Paul\u2019s Lutheran Church for 21 years.
\nFast was born in St. Catharines and grew up in Brantford. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University, followed by a master\u2019s degree from Brock and a PhD in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
\nDuring his years in school, Fast was mainly involved in weightlifting, and didn\u2019t get involved in the Highland Games until the age of 30, after moving back from out west to his current home.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/a>
In 2009, Fast set a Guinness World Record when he pulled this 208-ton military plane more than five metres.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI just heard some guys talking at the gym about these monsters that come in and throw big heavy things and I thought, \u2018wow, that\u2019s something I\u2019d like to see,\u2019\u201d Fast says.
\nHeading down to the event, Fast put his name on the competitors list, and after winning that competition, he was hooked.
\n\u201cSo I did that for three years then turned pro. So I\u2019ve been a pro ever since in that sport,\u201d Fast explains.
\nIn 1996, Fast would see something interesting on TV that would lead his strongman career on a new trajectory – one that would end up taking him all over the world. That bit of TV showed a man hauling a fire truck with nothing but brute strength.
\n\u201cI never knew that guys did this before and I wanted to test myself on it,\u201d Fast says. \u201cSo I called the fire department and said, \u2018could I borrow your fire truck?\u2019\u201d
\nFast admits it was the first time the fire department had ever received such an odd request, but they allowed it. After hauling the truck the first time, the department asked if he would haul the truck down Cobourg\u2019s main street as part of their Fire Prevention Week. After that, comments started coming in asking if the pull could have been a world record. As it turns out, it was.
\n\u201cSome people had asked if it could have been a world record, so that\u2019s when I started up with Guinness and in 1998, I got my first world record,\u201d Fast says.
\nThat was for pulling a fire truck 100 meters. He would later go on to set another record by pulling two of the same truck the same distance.
\n\u201cI\u2019m a very curious person, especially when it comes to strength and testing myself,\u201d Fast says.
\nIn 2009, Fast would face one of his biggest challenges, something that he had been eyeing for a couple years – a 208-ton CC-177 Globemaster military plane at CFB Trenton.
\n\u201cThat is my best pull,\u201d Fast says of the feat.
\nHe jokes that up until that point people had labelled him as a \u201ctruck-puller\u201d and he wanted to diversify.
\n\u201cSo I wanted to try a plane,\u201d he says.
\nFast waited an entire year before a plane could be set aside for his attempt. When the time came he was able to get a test pull in before the actual event. The test-pull went well, but on the day of the event, things were off. The tires on the plane looked slightly flat, and Fast admits it scared him.
\n\u201cNot only the size and the enormity of the whole thing scared me, but the tires of course scared me even more because I knew from experience that that\u2019s not good,\u201d Fast says.
\nHe asked to have the tires pumped, which wouldn\u2019t have been a problem except the process to do so takes at least two hours, and he was scheduled to pull the plane in 15 minutes.
\nIt was the first 45 seconds of the pull, after strapping in, that Fast remembers well.
\n\u201cThat pull was about 45 seconds of nothing, maximum effort, maximum strength and drive used and it didn\u2019t budge. But during that time, what\u2019s going through my head is, I\u2019m going to do this, and I was getting more and more angry that it wasn\u2019t moving and I was probably releasing a lot more adrenaline.\u201d
\nAt about the 46 second mark, the plane started to roll, and after hauling the plane the required five meters, Fast was numb, but he kept going.
\n\u201cThere was no feeling left in my body, it was all just mental and adrenaline,\u201d he says.
\nThe Guinness official yelled to him that he\u2019d beat the record. His son, walking along beside him, yelled in his ear, but Fast didn\u2019t hear them. Finally, his son snapped him out of it.
\n\u201cHe slapped me on the back three times, and I\u2019m still pulling. After he slapped me on the back I turned to him and said, \u2018why are you hitting me?\u2019\u201d Fast says.
\nWhile the plane pull may seem like a feat of superhuman strength, the same can be said for Fast\u2019s training exercises.
\n\u201cMy training consists almost entirely of just pulling my pick-up truck up hills. Depending on the grade, a lower grade I\u2019d use for building endurance and a steep grade I\u2019d use for starting big objects,\u201d he explains.
\nFollowing the plane pull, Fast has been to Rome, Switzerland, and Beijing, to name a few, to create or break world records.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been all over the world doing these things, and they sort of come up with the record and I just come in and do it,\u201d Fast says.
\nAnd he doesn\u2019t just do it for himself. Many of Fast\u2019s events raise money for different charities. Tim Hortons Kid\u2019s Camp, Habitat for Humanity, the Lung Association and McDonalds charities have all benefited from Fast\u2019s feats of strength.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really a great opportunity to raise awareness and money for good causes and it\u2019s been my custom to do a different one all the time,\u201d he says.
\nMost recently, Fast set a world record at the Trenton Scottish Irish Festival for the most cabers tossed by two people.
\nFast says he does get the odd comment questioning the things he does.
\n\u201cThere are some people in some areas that say I shouldn\u2019t be doing that kind of stuff and there are other people who say you\u2019re too old and shouldn\u2019t be doing this anymore. Negative comments, my whole life, have always been an asset for me because I always use it to fuel what I\u2019m going to do,\u201d Fast says.
\nTo him, his strength is a gift and he intends to continue using it.
\n\u201cThis strength and desire, and to use that strength, is a gift and how are you thankful for a gift? Well, you enjoy it, you use it, and when others can benefit it\u2019s even better still,\u201d Fast says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joel Wittnebel\/Active Senior’s Digest The man has hauled fire trucks, full family-sized homes, two-storey mining trucks and military airplanes. 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