2008 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National Bricklaying Championship

By Jeff Farmakes

Last year’s SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National was an exciting competition.

The 2008 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National bricklaying championship decides, "Who is the World’s Best Bricklayer?" This timed, 60 minute competition is being held on Wednesday, 1:30 AM CST, January 23rd, 2008, in the Masonry Construction’s Challenge Arena, located in the Gold Lot, at the 2008 World of Concrete / World of Masonry trade show. This is the largest annual construction trade show in the world. It is held once a year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year the 2007 official attendance at this four day show set a record with over 92,000 paid attendees.

The 2008 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National is a bricklaying competition comprised of the best bricklayers in the world. Twenty, 2-man teams made up of a mason, and mason tender, compete to lay the most bricks while meeting strict defined quality standards. The competition has the largest winner’s purse of any masonry competition. The competitors compete for well over $150,000 in cash and prizes before a crowd of 4,500 spectators. Admission to the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National is FREE!

Last year’s overall winner, Mike Boll, age 35, a mason with G Porter & Company, from Oak Lawn, Illinois, was declared "World’s Best Bricklayer," with a 791 brick performance, the second highest count ever at the National event. This year’s winner will win the grand prize of a new 2008 Ford F-250, XLT, V10, SuperDuty, CrewCab, 4 x 4 truck, $5,000 in cash and thousands in sponsor prizes.

Established to showcase the skill and craftsmanship of masonry, the general description of the competition is as follows: The contest requires all masons to meet the quality standards of the event. They have 60 minutes to complete their 26 foot, double wide brick wall. The competition has four awards, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are based on the highest brick count meeting the quality standards. The 4th award, the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN® is for the most sellable wall over 500 brick. This award is the second most coveted award at the event, and has the second highest award purse.

This year’s competition is made up of winning regional bricklayers from 15 regions nationwide in the US. For the first time masons from Canada and Great Britain will compete. Competition bricklayers come from states such as Ohio, California, Utah, Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, Arkansas, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, and the Canadian province of Alberta, and the West Midlands of central England. The mason competitors who were the 1st Place and SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN winners of the 2007 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® will also be returning to defend their titles.

For more details about this event go to www.specmixbricklayer500.com This is the web site that will offer a FREE, LIVE webcast connection of the 2008 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National while it is being held in Las Vegas. Broadcast coverage will begin one half hour before the start of the competition which will start Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008, at 11:30 AM PST, 12:30 PM MST, 1:30 PM CST, 2:30 PM EST, and 7:30 PM London time.