Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s Bench Press Challenge adds sponsors
June 14, 2026
Event celebrating America’s 250th birthday gaining momentum as participants train to hit top numbers by early July
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s (RCSD) 250 Bench Press Challenge added four new sponsors in recent weeks, not including three additional participating gyms, which will assist in verifying participating athletes’ individual lifts.
Kicking off June 28, with a July 2 media event and a July 3 conclusion, the weight-lifting event requires participants to bench-press 250 lbs. raw (no lifting suit) on a flat bench with a “free” Olympic bar for at least one repetition, though multiple reps will be recorded for a final bench press champions’ list. The list will include the names and ages of all participants who successfully bench 250 lbs. and the number of repetitions completed.
All lifts must be verified by fellow RCSD deputies or gym staff/trainers at participating gyms, primarily One Life Fitness-Sandhills in Columbia, S.C. The July 2 media event where several RCSD deputies are already slated to execute their lifts will be held at R1CrossFit gym two days prior to Independence Day [Details below].
The presenting sponsor for the event is Lorick Office Products. Lorick President Jeanne Lorick Brutschy is the wife of 10th-degree Black Belt Bruce Brutschy who plans to lift at least 250 lbs., perhaps with additional reps for the record, on June 28.
“This 250 Bench Press Challenge is a uniquely interesting way to herald America’s 250th birthday,” says Brutschy, a fitness coach and longtime friend of Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott who has himself instilled a culture of physical fitness in his RCSD since becoming Sheriff in 1997. “It’ll only be for this year because there is only one 250th birthday, and 250 lbs. is a natural heavyweight number corresponding with America’s birthday number.”
Brutschy adds: “What Sheriff Lott has created in this one-time event is phenomenally exciting for the powerlifting and strength-and-conditioning communities here in the Midlands as well as the family and friends who support these bench-press champions. Everybody’s talking about it and they’re training for it.”
In addition to Lorick Office Products, sponsors for the six-day event include Columbia Flag & Sign, the S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame, and One Life Fitness. Gyms which are also supporting the event (participating and verifying lifts) include Warrior Axe CrossFit in northeast Columbia, The Original Gym also in northeast Columbia, and Wolf’s Gym in Lexington.
So far among those currently training and planning to participate are gym staff, strength coaches, Midlands-area powerlifters, numerous RCSD deputy sheriffs, several law enforcement officers (game wardens) with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, and the chief deputy solicitor for S.C.’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
RCSD is neither the first nor the only law enforcement agency hosting a 250 bench-press challenge for America’s 250th birthday. The Manheim Township Police Department in Lancaster, Pennsylvania is also hosting a 250 bench-press event on Saturday, June 27.
The one-time RCSD 250 Bench Press Challenge is open to all participants from June 28 through July 3, the day prior to the Ryan Rawl Memorial Workout, also hosted by RCSD and which will be held on S.C. State House grounds the morning of Independence Day.
The media event for the RCSD 250 Bench Press Challenge will be held Thursday afternoon, July 2, from noon until 2:00 p.m. at R1CrossFit, 201 Columbia Mall Blvd, Columbia, S.C., 29223. The public is invited.
– For fun unrelated perspective: The National Football League (NFL) requires its pro prospects to bench-press 225 lbs. for max reps during the NFL Scouting Combine. That’s 25 lbs. less than RCSD’s 250 Bench Press Challenge.
– W. Thomas Smith Jr., a formerly deployed U.S. Marine Infantry leader and – since 2016 – a special deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, is also planning to participate in the 250 bench-press challenge.
