JW Athlete Dan Marashi talks about his last show placing.
We caught up with JW Training Athlete Dan Marashi last weekend at the NPA Yorkshire bodybuilding championships-he placed third and there was some controversy about the placing from all of us- check out what Dan said about the day and his thoughts…………
Third Place? Am I supposed to be happy?
It was on Saturday 28th May that I made the trip all the way up north to Holmfirth in West Yorkshire to compete in the Natural Physique Association’s Yorkshire Championship. Coming home with the Third Place Trophy, Joe asked me to write a few words on my thoughts of the whole experience.
Winning Third Place at only my second ever bodybuilding contest might sound a little impressive to some, and it’s an improvement on my Fourth Place finish at my first contest, but to be completely honest I’m pretty p****d off. There, I said it.
While I don’t need to say that no one goes into a contest aiming to come third place – everyone wants to win, I really think I should have had this show. I went in there feeling cocky and confident, although I believe I had pretty good reason to be. Weighing in at over 3kg heavier yet even leaner than last year, I was bringing a package of size, symmetry and muscular definition that I didn’t think anyone in my class would be able to match. Also, the odds were slanted in my favour when my class (the Novice Category) was split into two because of there being so many competitors, and I found myself being the heaviest in the “Light” Novice class.
To top all of this off, I had been practicing my posing for months in advance, so I knew that as I fired very pose I would be flexing EVERYTHING, and would have muscles lighting up like a Christmas tree!
So what went wrong? I honestly couldn’t tell you for sure, but the feedback I got was that my tan wasn’t dark enough. This may be very possible, as my tan was maybe the only thing I wasn’t completely sure of going into the show. I had been provided with a tanning product by my gym, but this product required many layers to be applied on top of each other, which meant not being able to shower for two to three days! I had no intention of walking around stinking, plus I don’t think my customers at work would have appreciated that either, so I continued to shower between applying layers. The night before the show, I decided to apply a layer of a different tanning product (that I had used at Bognor last year), and this product was a lot darker and stronger. I showered the morning of the show, but thought that I still looked dark enough so didn’t bother applying another layer.
Admittedly, I was the lightest coloured person on stage, although from what I have been told, I was still dark enough so to clearly see my musculature detail. However, sadly, at these contests your shade of tan does make up part of the marking criteria in regards to your overall score. How much you would be marked down because of such a petty thing obviously various from organisation to organisation, and I guess for the NPA (the organisers of this Yorkshire show) tan is an important factor. Good thing the Bognor Regis show I’m doing next Sunday is run by the BNBF hey!
I guess that’s one of the problems with bodybuilding, with it being such a subjective thing with no universal preset judging criteria, and this being a big reason why it hasn’t been made an Olympic sport. It’s just so irritating when you take into account the months and months of strict training and dieting, that you strive to keep impeccable day after day. And then there’s the balancing act and the complications of trying to get the timing right in the final week and final 24 hours to the show, manipulating your body’s fluid levels, sodium, and glycogen attempting to peak at the exact right time, which often comes down greatly to pure chance too!
Anyway, enough bitching and moaning, time to move on. Next Sunday (12th June 2011) I’ll be competing again at the BNBF Southern Championships held at the Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis. Needless to say I’m very excited and have high expectations going into this show. Honestly, I’m normally quite modest, but in this case I have to say that I believe at this moment in time that the overall package I’ll be bringing will simply be unmatchable in the Novice Category. Strong words, but I’m confident that I can back them up! And hey, if not don’t worry, I’ll find an excuse or something else to moan about!
Well done Dan- all of us at JW Training are proud of what you have achieved so far and we all know that you cannot be ignored forever! Big things are coming from Dan Marashi mark my words…………………
Show details
Pre-judging starts 1pm, Evening Show starts 5pm. Tickets are available at the door.
British Natural Bodybuilding Southern Championship
The Alexandra Theatre
Bognor Regis
PO21 1BL
Tel: 01738 446 006
Thanks for reading,
Train hard and stay healthy,
JW Training