Female body-builder Sonia Armitage is set for a rather special birthday gift this weekend.
The success of a first-ever challenge will be an ideal present for the personal trainer who is 43 on Sunday.
For weeks, Huddersfield-based Sonia has been busy organising a body-building show which she is presenting at Pudsey Civic Hall on Saturday.
And although she was unable to stage the show in her home town, she is making sure of a local flavour with a special ‘Mr Huddersfield’ class.
“I wanted to hold the show at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield but the stage wasn’t big enough so we had to move,” said Sonia, who still competes herself.
“Hence the Huddersfield class. I thought that was appropriate as I am from the town.”
Organising the show has been a solo effort for Sonia, who works out of Huddersfield’s Top Bodies gym. “It’s the first time I have done anything like this – I must be mad,” she said.
Another first for the show is the inclusion of separate sections for the disabled. “Previously, disabled people have had to compete alongside the able-bodied and that’s far from easy,” said Sonia. “So I thought: ‘Let’s do it – give them their own classes.’”
So far, more than 60 competitors have signed up to take part in 14 different classes and around 200 spectator tickets have been sold.
The individual men’s and women’s winners will be invited to the world championships in Italy next month. “So it’s all to play for,” said Sonia.
The show runs from 11.30am to around 5pm.
Sonia, a mother of two from Beaumont Park, has been involved in bodybuilding since she was 21. She gave up the sport for a while but then returned in 2011 and now trains every day.
Courtesy of: Examiner UK