Sarah And Me

2013 has so far been memorable for me for a number of reasons, and one of those reasons is definitely that I opened my inbox one morning to find a message there from none other than Sarah Dunlap.




In my head, a hysterical voice started screaming, SARAH DUNLAP!!! A MESSAGE FROM SARAH DUNLAP!!!

Once I’d picked up the mobile device from the floor (and began to control my shakes) I realised it was just a generic ‘Thank you for subscribing to my channel’ message, but nevertheless, getting a message from Sarah Dunlap, any kind of message, was, for me, a moment I won’t forget anytime soon.

You see Sarah and me go way back. Back to the early days of her bodybuilding career, to 2002, when she won both the Junior Nationals and NPC Nationals. In that first experience of unlimited internet access, Sarah burst onto my screen (well, actually, given the speeds in those days, perhaps ‘burst’ is not the right word, but you know what I mean) and blew me away.


2002: Sarah Dunlap wins the Junior Nationals and Nationals

Clicking on a thumbnail of her may have entailed a lengthy wait as the image downloaded step by step (are we spoiled now or what?) but, wow, were those images worth it!

These days, there are more images of up and coming muscle princesses out there than you can shake a shitty stick at. Back then, I had never seen a woman so young who was so big and muscular – through the magazine years I’d just got the impression all female bodybuilders were in their 30s – Sarah was (you’ll have to forgive the biblical connotation in this Easter week) a revelation.

And not only was she big. She was absolutely gorgeous. I was smitten. She had no idea how I felt of course, but then and there the story of Sarah and me began.




My first subscription? Herbiceps. Why? Pictures of Sarah. Next? FemFlex. Because, again, they had Sarah. FTVideo and Awefilms got my money too. Once they had pictures and clips of Sarah of course. They should all give her a bloody big bonus right now in recognition of her services to them. I’m not saying she was the only woman I enjoyed on these sites, but she was the reason I joined every time.




As the years passed, her fame and her muscles continued to grow, as did her internet presence. She set up her own websites. First, if memory serves correctly, SarahDunlapsWorld around 2004 or 2005 (guess who joined that), followed by (or maybe it was concurrent) a site for her clips, SarahInMotion, and, yes, Swell was there too.

For the first time, I could follow the story of a female bodybuilder's daily life through her website. Her other interests, self-photography (the first time I'd seen it), Sarah at home, Sarah on a bike and so on. She shared. And this fan couldn’t get enough.


2007: The Jan Tana champion at the Olympia

2007: Sarah wins the Jan Tana Pro show on her 27th birthday, looking absolutely sensational. She competes at the Olympia the same year. Then…

Sarah disappeared. Quite honestly, it was like losing a friend. Actually, around the same time a very very good (and real!) friend of mine emigrated. I remember thinking to myself at the time: who else is going to bugger off and leave me now?

A couple of years passed, and Sarah appeared on MySpace, a lot smaller, but still her gorgeous self. And she had a YouTube channel, SarahDunlapInMotion. There she was roller-skating dressed as a rabbit, being licked by a ‘friend’, getting ready for a Saturday night out, and, of course, doing a bit of gym work. She was sharing again. Sarah and me were back on!



And so it continued into 2010, but once again, Sarah disappeared. Rumours began on the forums. She was working as an escort in New York; she had serious health problems as a result of her steroid abuse; she was more or less homeless; she’d gone mad. Slave’s ire was well and truly ignited. How dare they say such things about Sarah! Like the Lion in The Wizard of Oz, I was ready to fight ‘em with one paw tied behind my back, fight ‘em standing on one foot, fight ‘em with my eyes closed, etc. My Sarah! I was ready to duel these malicious muck-spreaders, with pistol or sword, and defend her honour.

But last year, some real news. After 2007, Sarah had simply begun to once again enjoy all the things she had had to give up to devote herself to bodybuilding. Things like roller-skating (dressed as a rabbit) or ice-skating, for example. She had taken up landscape design, something she’d always wanted to do before bodybuilding came along. Sarah had, indeed, had some health problems, but it had nothing to do with steroids. In fact, her right leg had needed realigning, no little operation, but she was on the mend.


2012: Sarah on the mend

Which brings us to this year, her new YouTube channel (simply called SarahDunlap), her ClipsForSale page (more exotically entitled Shedeezl – Sexy Muscle Vixen), and that message.




Of course I replied. And I’m still waiting for her to get back to me. But it’s no big deal if she doesn’t. After all, Sarah and me have survived this long without sending messages to each other!




Get ready for Sarah overload (as if that were possible). I don’t want to offend anybody who literally believes the Easter story, but it seems to me that it’s about time appreciation for this beautiful, charismatic and slightly mad (in a good way) ex-champion was resurrected.