On Saturday, September 24, 2022, another history was made on the field at Watson Lake Park in Prescott, Arizona. Andrew Hobson, of Sioux Center, Iowa, set a world record during the Prescott Highland Games and Celtic Faire.
Scottish Highland Athletics events are more than one thousand years old and date from the 11th Century. During his reign, King Malcolm III summoned men to race up Creag Choinnich overlooking Braemar with the aim of finding the fastest runner in Scotland to be his royal messenger. Scottish Highland Games are held on 6 continents, and the Prescott Highland Games and Celtic Faire are part of this tradition, held September 24 & 25, 2022.
The Scottish Heavy Athletics consist of 9 separate events, including stone toss, weight for distance, sheaf toss, hammers, and the signature event of the highland games, the caber toss. The world record discussed was in weight-over-bar. In this event, the athlete holds the ring of a heavy weight with a single hand, swings the weight, and attempts to clear a vertical bar.
Last Saturday, September 24, 2022, Andrew Hobson won the event in Men’s Master 40-49 category. He threw a 42 pound weight over a bar 22 feet 4 inches. In order to certify the record, the height was confirmed with a steel tape measure, and the weight was later confirmed on a certified postal scale. The final weight was 42 pounds, 6 ounces, qualifing as a new world record.
Andrew Keedah Hobson is an enrolled member of the Navajo tribe, having been raised on the Navajo Reservation in Chinle, Arizona. He now resides in Sioux Center, Iowa with his wife Janna and their 3 children. Andrew began competing in the Scottish Highland Games in Tucson, Arizona while an undergraduate field (and track) athlete at the University of Arizona at the age of 18.
Andrew entered the professional circuit under the mentorship of five-time world champion Ryan Vierra while traveling throughout Scotland in 2005. He retired from the professional division in 2012 after a knee injury nearly ended his career. However, after an incredible recovery from a knee surgery in 2018, Andrew made a comeback in the Masters Division in 2019 and has since won 2 back to back World Masters Championships — even venturing into competing in and winning, the Arnold Sports Festival.
Andrew is also a practicing artist since his teenage years, and has been sharing his passion for art by teaching high school students for over 15 years. Andrew is a contemporary Native American artist who uses his athletic throwing background and his passion for music to create artwork that generates movement, sound, and rhythm. His work can be found at www.keedah.com. (insta: @andrewhobson)
Mark Markley
Director of Athletics
Prescott Area Celtic Society