Boston husband and father crowned England's Strongest Man

Dean ‘The Machine’ Mason claimed the honour in November, having made his first appearance in the Ultimate Strongman competition just last year.

The 35-year-old husband and father – who only began taking part in strongman competitions in 2021 – competed across five gruelling events:

• Cerberus Strength – Bar Bending (bending four steel bars against the clock)
• Log Inclined Bench Press for Reps (the most reps of a 140kg log in 75 seconds)
• Body Power - Kratos Bar Deadlift for Max (the largest deadlift of a Kratos bar)
• Atlas Endurance - Basque Stone Lift (lifting five stones, weighing from 90kg to 140kg, against the clock)
• Tire Flip (flipping a 400kg type over 20m as quickly as possible)

Dean won two of the five events: the bar bending, in a time of 26.32s; and the bench press, performing 19 reps, setting a new record in the process.

He also came joint-second in the deadlift round, achieving a personal best of 360kg.

He said: “Last year, at my first England’s Strongest Man I came in fourth place, went on to UK’s Strongest Man 2025, live on Channel 5, where I also came in fourth place, so I was determined to get onto the podium this time.”

Dean credited a number of factors in his success in this year’s competition: training at Boston’s Mayhem Gym; his coach, Nathan Young, of Nemesis Coaching; ‘lots of help from everyone at the gym’, especially his training partner Tom Dust; attention to nutrition, as set by Tom Chenery, of Chenery Fitness; plus time spent on recovery, with the help of Liam Wilson, of LW Sports Massage.

Speaking to The Standard at the end of last month, he said: “I still can't believe I am England's Strongest Man, it means the world to me, my family and friends and the support is unreal. I’m still waiting for it to sink in.

“Now, I'm looking forward to UK’s Strongest Man at Glasgow in August 2026 and will be live on Channel 5 again next year.”