A baby elephant, on average, weighs 230 lbs.
Last night, Richard Scarlett benchpressed about one and a half baby elephants: 425 lbs. at Pottruck's benchpress competition.
The hour-long event, open to anyone in the Philadelphia community, started at 7 p.m. after the 30 participants weighed in to determine their respective weight classes.
Each lifter had to maintain four points of contact at all times, and feet could not come off the ground. In addition, no arching of the back was allowed, and the lifted bar could not sink or bounce during the lift.
Because only two women participated in the competition, they were in the same weight class, and College senior Kaelin Ainley proved victorious, pressing 95 lbs.
Still, Ainley seemed a bit disappointed in herself.
"I thought it sucked. I only did 95 lbs. . I usually do 125, and I thought I'd have to go that high," she said.
The 28 men were divided up into four different weight classes that varied by 25-lb. increments.
Engineering junior Michael Provenzano won the under-150-lb. grouping, bench pressing 235 lbs.
His friends all cheered loudly after his win, claiming Provenzano was a "descendant of Sparta" and had "more veins than a heroin addict."
Provenzano himself was a bit more humble, noting that he performed better than he thought he would.
"There was good competition, and the other guys were neck and neck," he said.
Penn facilities employee Michael Garr won the 150 to 175 weight class - the largest, with 14 participants.
Though it was his first time in the competition, Garr seemed confident.
"I knew I was going to win, 100 percent," he said.
Both Provenzano and Garr also mentioned that they work out about five days per week.
The competition continued with senior Art Institute student Vincenzo Fanfarillo of the 175 to 200 weight class pressing 285 lbs., and Joshua Shatsky winning the 201 to 225 class, pressing 335 lbs.
But despite these impressive feats, Scarlett, an employee at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, stole the show, winning for the 225-and-above weight class, as well as the competition overall.
After they lift once, participants are given the opportunity to lift once more with weights at least as heavy as those used in their first attempt.
And so, after Scarlett pressed 425 on his first attempt, he went for 455 on the second.
He nearly made it.
Though Scarlett's performance was shocking to onlookers, he left the scene with a goody bag and a grin.
The winners - one from each class - received a hat, towel and various other items, as well as their names engraved on a trophy at Pottruck.
