Some of the most powerful people in North America will be in the Hub City this weekend for the Massenomics Lift Hard Live Easy Classic 2023.

The event takes place on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at the Odde Ice Center.

“We have some of the strongest powerlifters in the world doing it, but then we also have 30 local people from Aberdeen doing it,” said event organizer Tanner Baird of Aberdeen. “It’s kind of mixture of the two, which is kind of neat.”

Baird was part of a group that put on the Strongman Showdown competition during the Brown County Fair from 2016-2018.

“Historically, it’s been on late at night on ESPN where there’s guys picking up rocks, and flipping over tires, and pulling firetrucks and that sort of thing,” said Baird of the Strongman competition.

This weekend will be much different.

“This is event is technically powerlifting, is what the sport is,” Baird said. “It much more closely resembles what you would see if you’re watching weightlifting in the Olympics.”

Participants will compete in three different lifts: back squat, bench press and dead lift.

Baird said some of the indviduals coming can lift a “staggering amount” of weight.

“There’s people coming that can back squat 1,000 pounds,” Baird said, before adding, “It’s double what I would normally consider a very strong person to do.”

He said some individuals will also be able to dead lift between 800 and 900 pounds off of the floor.

“Some of the weights are just wild,” he said.

While Baird will also compete in addition to help run the event, he said he is looking forward to seeing some of the top lifters in action.

“I’m lucky to get to put it on,” he said, “but I’m also a fan of the sport.”

This will mark the first time Aberdeen has hosted such an event. So how does the Hub City become the hub of the top lifters in the country?

“This is kind of a unique situation,” Baird said. “The real reason is, we have the Massonomics Podcast, which we’ve had for about eight years now, where we talk about strongman, powerlifting, stuff like that, and kind of developed a nationwide – or even worldwide – niche audience that’s into this sort of thing. We’re bringing in people from all over the place.”

That includes Canada, New York, Florida, California and Texas or as Baird put it “basically every corner of North America.”

Cost to attend is $10 for adults, $5 for those ages 5-18, and free for those under 5. Concessions will be available.

There will be 60 people competing (about 30 from Aberdeen), with 45 men and 15 women.

Baird is hoping for a successful first-time event.

“We’re super excited to put it on,” Baird said. “This is the first year we’re doing it, but we can really picture this being an annual event.”