By James Johnson

Last updated at 11:58, Saturday, 02 March 2013

A victorious arm wrestler is considering taking on Europe after winning a national competition.

Richard Miller

Richard Miller, 31, beat off competition from across the country at the Iron Man contest in Manchester.

The Cumwhinton resident has been doing two hours training a day at the gym for the last 10 weeks and it seems to have paid off.

After getting through the group stages he was worried to be faced with a 26-stone giant in the final.

At a considerably lighter 18 stone Richard could have been considered the underdog but he triumphed nonetheless.

Richard said: “It was quite a gruelling day and one of them went on for five and a half minutes.

“It’s a great achievement and I’m over the moon.

“I’m going to take it to the next level and maybe go to European finals.”

Mr Miller, who grew up in Raffles in Carlisle, has his own panting and decorating business and exercises in the evenings.

He took up arm wrestling after seeing posters up at the Bodytek gym and decided to get involved.

Although the sport does rely on strength, he argues that there’s more than meets the eye.

“It’s quite a technical sport,” he says.

“I just said I’d give it a go, but didn’t think it’d get to this level.

“I thought I would maybe get through my group but I didn’t expect to win.”

Mr Miller won £5,000 and a trophy.

First published at 11:14, Saturday, 02 March 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk