In the field: Donald Dinnie Day 2024

Every time I visit Potarch, I'm struck by its small scale – a café, a green, a bridge, and a pair of steens. It's hard to imagine more than a handful of visitors who aren't just passing through. And yet, once a year, this quiet pocket of Scotland comes alive to celebrate its history.

2024 marked the eighth edition of Donald Dinnie Day, The Gathering, in Potarch since its inception in 2017. Originally created to honour the legendary Donald Dinnie and bring together past lifters of the Dinnie Stones, this event has grown into one of the most anticipated stonelifting events on the calendar. The Gathering draws lifters from around the world, eager to compete in its stonelifting competitions and to join the ranks of those who've lifted the iconic Dinnie Stones.

Despite its growing popularity, getting to The Gathering has remained just out of reach for me. Even though I actively made plans to attend multiple times, something else always came up, be it a wedding or some other event competing for that first weekend in August – the most popular days, apparently, for every summer event in the UK.

This year though, I was determined to get to Potarch. And it wasn't easy since I don't currently have a car... I had to rent one.

So, after a long wait to get the keys from the rental desk, I set off and chose scenic drive through the Cairngorms before eventually parking outside my (unintentionally quirky) hotel with 18-hours to go. I'd finally made it. Although I had just missed the true start the weekend's events.

The story of 2024's event actually begins on Saturday – the day before Donald Dinnie Day – at the Aboyne Highland Games just a few miles down the road from Potarch.

The Dinnie Stones have appeared at the Aboyne Highland Games quite a few times before. But this is the first time (I believe) that athletes competing at The Gathering went to lift the stones a day early.

Lifting the Dinnie Stones is actually a prerequisite for competing at the Donald Dinnie games and the Jan Todd games. In order to make sure the athletes achieved the lift (and so that they could focus solely on their competition) they stepped up to lift at the Highland Games instead.

Jeana and Sandra both succeeded with amazing lifts of the Dinnie Stones, officially qualifying to compete at the Jan Todd games the next day.

It's a little disappointing that Jeana and Sandra weren't able to lift the stones on Donald Dinnie Day itself. I know spectators were especially excited about watching them live on the day, and the athletes probably would have preferred lifting in front of the Donald Dinnie Day crowd too, but I understand why it happened this way.

After being forced to endure Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas (it's August!) during breakfast in the hotel restaurant the next morning, I put on my Donald Dinnie Day T-Shirt and made my way to The Gathering.

My route to Potarch took me over its now legendary bridge, where I could see the Dinnie Stones coming into view on a platform with the rest of the games set up behind them. A team of people guided spectators to park on an area grass behind the café.

Although I'd arrived a little early, I certainly wasn't close to being the first; the green was already filling up with crowds of people. Those that arrived before me could avoid queuing for a photo with the Stoltman brothers at their stand and snag themselves a good spot to catch the competitions.

There were other stands too, including Cerberus and Atlas Endurance, and others selling food and beard care products.

I strolled around, gathered my bearings, and started wondering about what I'd share from the event. I was pretty confident I couldn't share anything on Instagram throughout the day even if I wanted to – I get no phone signal in Potarch at all. Similar issues prevented the crew from livestreaming on Official Strongman as planned. Instead, they filmed as much as they could to produce a full video of the event to watch later.

As the clock struck 12, Stevie Shanks jumped on the mic to kick things off with the procession, lead by this year's piper, Ramsay Campbell.

Once the procession returned back to the Dinnie Stones' platform, Stevie announced Malcolm Nicol would be taking over as the chieftain of the gathering, handing him a cap donned with a feather. This year is the first Donald Dinnie Day since the loss of its former chieftain, David Webster, who passed away last October.

Malcolm formally opened the games with a tribute to David Webster, closing his statement by saying:

Perhaps this event is a wee bit of a memorial to what he was so keen on and did so much to encourage.

The sombre energy quickly turned to excitement as the day's stonelifting started immediately with the Nicol Walking Stones for the men's Donald Dinnie Games.

The Nicol Walking Stones need no introduction now that their popularity has grown so much over the last few years in part to their appearances at Giants Live. Even the strongest men in the world have struggled to tame these stones – making this an incredible event to start with.

All of the Donald Dinnie Games athletes posted respectable distances – including some unorthodox techniques to cover just a few more inches. And then Dale Murray took his grip on the rings.

Dale Murray's attempt started incredibly well. His pace was fast, allowing him to cover lots of ground with his first pick before dropping the stones only a couple of meters from the end of the course. After his 10-second rest, he lifted the pair of stones again and took a few more strides, dropping the stones for the final time. The stones landed extremely close to the course's 20 meter mark – very similar to Andy Black's record a few years back.

After waiting for what felt like forever, we got the measurement: 64 feet 4 inches (19.58m). A new outdoor world record! What a start to the day! However, Dale would have to wait for the Nicol Walking Stone record attempts later in the day to see if he'd walk home with the glory.

The women in the Jan Todd games started their day with the Gordon Dinnie Magoo stone to shoulder for reps. Each athlete had 75 seconds to post as many reps as possible with a 71kg stone.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a good view from my spot so I didn't manage to capture any good photos. All of the athletes managed to get some points while Sandra Bradley and Hannah Linzay started super strong and aggressive (with eight and seven reps respectively), setting the pace of the Jan Todd games.

Sandwiched between competition events were the Dinnie Stones lift attempts. This may have been the fastest I've seen a crowd migrate around the bed of a truck before.

In the past, father and son lifts – Robert Dinnie & Donald Dinnie, Jack Shanks & Stevie Shanks, and Bill Crawford & Billy Crawford – have become a special kind of lift that connect family members to the stones' history. This year, we had a pair attempting something a little different: A husband and wife lift.

AJ and Sarah Pearson from the USA were some of the first lifters of the day. AJ went first, comfortably putting his name in the history book, though injuring his biceps in the process.

Sarah was up next, hoping to give the crowd that fairy-tale moment.

Unfortunately, despite her several amazing efforts, Sarah didn't manage to put wind beneath the stones this time. I hope we see Sarah come back to attempt the stones again; a husband & wife lift would be special indeed.

Joshua Davidson was also in the first flight of lifters. His first straddle style lift looked strong, and while Sarah was resting between her attempts, Joshua decided to give a side-by-side lift a go.

Joshua broke the side-by-side stones from the floor, but they froze at his knees – the small stone fell forward, pulling him with it. For several brutal seconds, Joshua fought against gravity and pulled back to stand tall with the stones. A majority of athletes would have given up, but Joshua's perseverance paid off! A pair of fantastic lifts!

Mackenzie Hoven was in the second flight of Dinnie Stones lifters attempting to lift the stones without straps. And if successful, it would put her in an exclusive group of women.

After a few brilliant attempts where light peeked from under the side of the large stone, Mackenzie switched to using straps. Sadly, it looked like she ran out of energy and the stones stayed glued to the floor for her final attempts. I wonder whether the best strategy is to get the lift with straps first before attempting without them for the extra glory?

Among the other Dinnie Stones attempts of the day were some more strong successful lifts and a couple of other no lifts. These stones really are a different beast and it's super difficult to replicate their dynamics in the gym.

Back to the games, there were some interesting events in both competitions.

The men's Peter Martin Stone Medley took a set of five stones and had athletes lift them in the 'five stages of stonelifting': Wind under the stone, stone to lap, stone to chest, stone to shoulder, and stone overhead – one stone for each stage.

The 'five stages' as an event is a unique idea and it was cool to watch. The creativity of the events extended to the Steve Jeck stone ladder – like a deadlift ladder, but with ringed stones (like the Dinnie Stones) increasing in weight. That's something else I've not seen before. I love seeing new takes on events, especially in stonelifting.

Among the women's events were two throwing events – a throw for distance in any style in David Webster's Steinstossen, and a weight over bar (using a stone wrapped in rope with a handle) for reps. But the women's most brutal and exhausting event was the Katie Sandwina medley, which involved a duck walk into walking stones into a front carry.

Again, Sandra Bradley and Hannah Linzay were battling for first place in the event. Here though, Hannah Linzay bullied the duck walk by running, saving several seconds to ultimately win the event.

This year, some time was set aside for noteworthy Dinnie Stones record attempts – like a hold for time or a carry – and record attempts at carrying the Nicol Walking Stones.

Mark Haydock currently holds the Dinnie Stones hold record at 46.3 seconds. Ben Crook was aiming to top that record.

Ben's first attempt lasted around 20-seconds before the stones dropped – he declared it a warm-up and went for a rest. Ben clocked more time in his second attempt, but it wasn't enough to take Mark's record from five years ago.

Between Ben's hold attempts, Matt Jones got up on stage to carry the Dinnie Stones. He had a couple of attempts, standing both times with the stones, but struggling to take any steps. After dropping the stones on both attempts, he apologized to the crowd, looking a little deflated.

Only a short time later, Matt stepped up to carry the Nicol Walking Stones in a record attempt. Even after his two Dinnie Stones lifts he managed an incredible 55 feet 3 inches (16.8m), showing his earlier attempts to carry the Dinnie Stones were just bad luck.

Among the other athletes attempting the record carry was Pete Seddon, posting a brilliant 62 feet 10 inches (19.15m) and coming extremely close to Dale's record from earlier in the day.

After all the athletes finished their attempts on the Nicol Walking Stones, Dale Murray managed to walk away with the outdoor world record he set earlier in the day. And there are plenty of athletes breathing down his neck ready to take it for themselves. We're still waiting on a single full length (20 meters) on the field. And now that we've seen athletes within inches, I have no doubt we'll see it soon.

To round out the day, the final event for both the men's and women's competition was the June Richard stone wall challenge – a familiar stone run with natural stones.

At this point I think all of the athletes were exhausted, but every single one of them had a final push to secure as many points as possible. On the men's side, Sebastien Louvel topped the men's podium with a consistently brilliant performance all day.

The stone selection on the stone wall felt just about perfect from a spectator point of view – not every athlete could finish the series, making it extra enjoyable when an athlete loaded the final stone.

Sandra Bradley initially struggled to pick the final stone, but her stonelifitng experience shone when she manouvered the stone into a new position and squatted down on one knee to gain a better position for the pick, allowing her to load the stone just in time.

Hannah Linzay was the final athlete of the day to lift, comfortably loading all of the stones and successfully defending her title as the champion of the Jan Todd games!

The whole day ran pretty smoothly. For context, Giants Live's strongman shows typically run for four to five hours with five events and a 10-person field. Here, there were two competitions, 10 competition events, 14 games athletes, three flights of Dinnie Stones lifts, and record attempts on the Nicol Walking Stones. In total, it took around six hours and there wasn't a minute to spare.

And all of that in an event that was free to attend! These past two years have been funded by community donations (and prior to that, privately). I've wondered whether ticketing the event is a viable alternative way of covering costs. I'm sure there are logistical issues I'm completely unaware of, but even a small cost of entry would contribute significantly to covering the costs (considering the number of attendees this year), as well as keeping visitors invested until the end when the athletes need it most.

It's wonderful to see how The Gathering has grown from a small event celebrating Donald Dinnie, his stones, and those who've lifted them, to a complete celebration of stonelifting and those who shaped it. It was a pleasure to finally see it all in person!

Congratulations to all of the athletes that participated this year. And thanks to everyone involved in putting on the event and making it a success.

At the start of the day, Malcolm Nicol hoped that this year's gathering could be a sort of memorial to David Webster. Since David Webster's passing I've re-read a couple of his books, and one particular line from his 1973 edition of Scottish Highland Games caught my eye more than ever:

Maybe one day as athletic standards go higher still, we will have women attempting to lift the stones of strength!

If that line rings a bell it may because Terry Todd also quotes it in his 1979 Sports Illustrated article about Jan Todd's groundbreaking Dinnie Stones lift. It's a remark that may well have driven Jan Todd to make her attempt. Now, 45-years later (almost to the day) since Jan Todd's lift, we're in an era where women attempting to lift the Dinnie Stones – and other stones of strength – is no longer a one-off.

David Webster's wishful one day is here. And this weekend's event couldn't have been a better memorial.