James Fuller and Holly Mackenzie have been training for weeks, months even, for the fifth annual Central Maine Strongman competition, which takes place Saturday at the Augusta Armory on Western Avenue.

Mackenzie, 27, of Oakland is competing for the first time. Fuller, 40, of Hallowell has competed in all five additions of the Central Maine Strongman, an event Dana Geneseo organizes to help raise money for Augusta Little League.

“I am excited and nervous,” Mackenzie said. “You just never know who will be there or how the day will go. I don’t even know what to think about it, but I’m excited.”

Fuller said: “It can take three months to train for this. I’ll be one of the oldest competitors there, but I’m getting faster and stronger every year so I must be doing something right.”

The Strongman will feature about 35 competitors and six events — an overhead press, a truck pull, the yoke walk/keg load, Fingal’s fingers, Hercules hold and the Atlas stones.

Competitors are separated into weight divisions.

Geneseo, who will compete in the heavyweight division (266 pounds and above), said the event typically raises about $1,700 each year.

“I set a goal of at least a grand and then shoot for the sky on the high end,” he said. “Sponsorships are tough to come by. Every year they get tougher and tougher to get. Seventy-five percent of the money we donate comes from sponsors.”

Geneseo, 38, added that history will be made today. The event will feature three women from Maine for the first time. Joining Mackenzie are Karen Wickman, of Waterville, and Amy Farrell, of Freeport. Mackenzie and Wickman have been training with Geneseo.

“I’m very active,” said Mackenzie, who is an instructor at Champions Fitness Club in Waterville. “I love lifting, running and working out. I work out five or six days a week. I’m up for any physical challenge.”

So, too, is Fuller, who will compete in the 201-231 pound division.

Fuller said he has three goals Saturday: “No. 1, don’t get hurt. No. 2, have a good time, and No. 3, do the best I’ve ever done.”

That would mean a top-three finish in his class.

“My class is loaded,” he said, “but I’ve been training like crazy.”

Fuller has collected much of the equipment used in the Strongman over the years so he can train at home.

He says the stones — with each weighing between 280 and 330 pounds — are his favorite.

“The hardest events are anything you have to lift over your head,” he said. “But I like the stones. I practice with them a lot.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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