Here is a video of my son, Jesse Marunde.  Just thought my readers might enjoy this video insight into my life and my son’s life.

Strongman Jesse Marunde

Jesse Marunde became an internationally famous strongman.  In fact, the strongman sport is more popular in Europe than it is in the U.S.  Jesse told me the story once about a contest he was in in Europe where he signed autographs for two straight hours.

Jesse Marunde Changed Strongman

Jesse actually changed the strongman sport around the world with his innovations.  He came to the sport from Olympic lifting, and he applied the techniques of Olympic lifting, using strength combined with speed and leverage, to beat many of his stronger competitors early on.  Soon others in the sport all over the world began to use Jesse’s Olympic lifting techniques.

Jesse Marunde My Son

Jesse was a strong willed child from birth.  No surprise about that, right?  His thirst for athletics began early when I began to take him out with me when I would run 10 miles in Spokane, Washington.  He was too young to run and had just learned to ride a bicycle, but he still couldn’t keep up on the bicycle, so I tied a rope around my waist to his handle bars, and so began our father-son athletic adventures.

Later I built a gym for Jesse and equipped it with $3,000 worth of weights and equipment I purchased from a gym that went out of business in Sequim.  It was in that gym, which was our garage on Griffith Farm Road in Sequim, where Jesse and I weightlifted together, and it was in that gym where we talked about his future and his dreams and hopes.  One day while we were working out he told me he knew what he wanted to do with his life, and it was to become the strongest man in the world.  I recall as clear as day looking him in the eyes and saying, “Jesse I believe you can do it.”

He nearly did.  He came in second in the World’s Strongman Contest in Chengdu, China, but he died of a heart attack in the gym in Sequim after an intense and extremely exhausting squat routine.  We could not revive him.

Jesse left a huge legacy for a 27 year old.  An old man about 85 years old told me that Jesse saved his grandson’s life.  Jesse had taken in a teenager who was involved in drugs and had no direction.  Jesse was a pretty demanding coach, but he was also compassionate.  He told this young man that working out was about much more than strength.  It was also about discipline and a lifestyle.  He encouraged him and demanded that he live a clean lifestyle while Jesse coached him.  With emotion in his voice the grandfather told me how deeply grateful he would always be for the influence Jesse was in his grandson’s life.

I just got back from the gym in Sequim, working out intensely and enjoying every minute of it, because for me, this is a part of who I am, and a big part of the legacy my son left.  Discipline.  Hard work.  Loyalty.  Commitment.  Intensity in work and play.

I’m proud to share this story about my son Jesse Marunde.

Last Updated on November 12, 2014 by Chuck Marunde