![]() ![]() The Braemar Gathering has been happening for nearly 1,000 years and it hasn’t changed much over that time.” “But in the Highland games, you’re getting more back to the natural objects. “In the Olympics or in high school, college or professional sports, you’re dealing with meticulously created objects,” Tolly said. Before someone throws the Braemar stone, you see them constantly trying to adjust it, and even though it doesn’t look uneven, it doesn’t feel like you can ever find the right place to hold it.”įor Tolly, the centuries-old traditions of the Highland games make the sport especially appealing. “Brute force is part of it, but it will not carry you through all of the events,” Tolly said. The throwing stones are typically 27 pounds. The Braemar stone, meanwhile, is 56 pounds and the heavy hammer is 26 to 27 pounds. You want the caber to land on the portions of the clock and 12:00 is your best throw.”ĭepending on the class, cabers typically weigh between 75 to 120 pounds. If you were the judge, you would be behind me and if I’m turning a certain way, you judge it based on my shoulders. “You flip it and it’s always based on your shoulders. ![]() Then you need to add in the wind as a factor. “Every caber has a different weight and the way the wood grows makes it different as well. “When you’re getting ready to throw, somebody brings the tapered end up to you and you heft it up and go forward with it and it’s hard to balance,” Tolly said. The eighth event at Braemar was the caber, which is a large tapered wooden pole made of different types of wood. “You have the weight over bar, affectionately called WOB, plus weight for distance with a heavy weight and a light weight.” “At Braemar, you have the hammer throws with two different weights, the stone throws with the Braemar stone, which is the heaviest stone with a standing put and the open stone, where you can throw whichever weight you want,” Tolly said. I have family heritage in Scotland, and I decided to tie all of this into a trip over there.”įor Highland games, there are nine events in America and eight events in Scotland. I had a sabbatical coming and I’m helping to plant a Scottish church for my denomination. “I thought about what I could do that would make an impact on my own life and I knew the Braemar games were supposed to be open. "I knew the event requirements were outpacing my ability to continue toward improvement at my age. “My original goal was to get to the national or world championships and that’s probably not going to happened," Tolly said. Tolly’s trip to Scotland for the Braemar Gathering came about due to a combination of his work and personal schedules. Ancient Athletics from Springfield ( Illinois ) is very good and so is Gateway Cabermen from St. Since then, I’ve been competing in various age groups and I haven’t yet gotten first place, but in this region, we have some of the best athletes in the world. “By two years later, I was taking it more seriously and that’s when I got second place. You enjoy the competition, and you want to beat each other, but you also want to help each other out. “I went out there without any practice, but the wonderful thing about the Masters (over 40) division is that everyone is very helpful. “Before the 2016 games, my wife said, ‘OK, big boy, let’s see what you can do,’ ” Tolly said, laughing. Louis Scottish Games in the Masters 50+ class. Two years later, he took second place at the 2018 St. Tolly’s wife gave him the clergy kilt a week before he made his competitive debut at the St. They encourage you to search your family tree and find whatever clan that you would like to claim, but it’s really open and you can claim anything.” “Two years later, she presented with a clergy kilt, which is separate from all of the clans. “I love people who move heavy stuff and I love the bagpipes and I even like haggis, and that really made an impression on my wife. “It was my first time ever seeing it, but immediately I felt like I had found my people,” said Tolly, who is 6-foot-2 and weighs over 300 pounds. Tolly, who is superintendent of the Gateway Conference of the Free Methodist Church USA, was introduced to the Highland games at the St. Events include putting the stone, tossing the caber and the throwing of weights for both distance and height. Another highlight is a tug-of-war held between military athletes. The centuries-long tradition of competing by throwing heavy objects still lives on at the Braemar games. The Gathering has been run in its present form since 1832. According to the event’s website ( ), there have been Gatherings of one sort or another at Braemar since the days of King Malcolm Canmore 900 years ago. ![]()
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