The last bar has hit the ground; the last chalk has been scrubbed clean; the Second Skin has been applied. It's time to lean back and recap.
Our plans for play-by-play quickly unraveled, first off, because of the amazing turnout. Sorry, folks at home; shoulda been here. (Sorry, Joe Scott. Not your fault, we know.)
It's hard to yell and think at the same time. This is true not only in the CrossFit world, but it DOES mean that my memories of the day may be somewhat askew. Bear with me:
FIRST ROUND: we split the Flights up by bar usage. Typically, we'd have 2-3 people doing the Prescribed weight on Thrusters (95lbs men, 65lbs women) and 3-4 more scaling.
The first flight pitted some eager participants (and a couple of reluctant ones) in a crowd-welcomer. It was a battle from the start; arriving late, Esther and Calvin had to jump in with a five-minute warmup. They did admirably well, despite the cold start, but couldn't make it into the second round.
Norm and Darren have been training hard, and it showed. They PR'd in the first round, and moved right through nonstop. Toni and Betty-Lou – who signed up at 8pm on Thursday night! – had a very fast time. They were surprised, but I think they were the only ones. Jeremy and his new partner, Dave Eisler, ripped through super fast to finish first (and ultimately, second overall in Round 1.)
Flight #2 was going to be a show: Ray and his new partner, Nicole Kinsell, a 16-year-old wrestler who had posted a 4:44 Fran – as Rx'd – on her first try a few days earlier. Mike and Eden paced them through admirably. Allyson (our Food Bank rep) and Pam Didonato (amazing athlete with MS) had a great total time, and smilin' Carolle and Fran grinned their way through in a quick 15:06. Fran, who had been thrown under the CrossFit bus 3 weeks ago and showed up regularly to practice, jammed her thumb catching a bar and had to leave. Hope it's all better already, Fran! None of those "Beating Fran" jokes are about you – just the WOD!
Flight #3 pitted two coaches against one another. Lori and I faced off against "Flash Francine" and Whit, and we faced some strong competition in Philsy/Rich (the Dream Team) and Katherine and Ted Fryia. I would have loved to have had time to watch, but I was a bit busy; I do recall Whit finishing just ahead of me on the bars, but I spent the rest of the Flight looking at the ditch outside. No virgins sacrificed, but I was unable to speak for a few minutes. We finished in a good time, and were set for Round Two. Thinking Lori wouldn't be ecstatic to move on, I joked that our goal was fifth place in Round Two – respectable, but not enough to move on to Round Three. "Well, we're going to try hard!" said Lori. So we did.
Flight #4 was a show of some of the fastest women around: Alecia, Anna, Nicole Gignac, and Nancy. That bar was ready for action! Nancy and Anna had partners who were brand new to Fran, but Nicole and Alecia had really competitive men on their side. Brent Rose (with Alecia) hammered the entire first round in 1:22, and I really thought he'd finish in under 3 minutes, but he faded on the 15 pullups. Alecia and Nicole hit every single pullup (Alecia's earlier quote: "my rib came out, but I just put it back in, so I'm ready to go.". Nicole spent a few minutes focusing on the chalk bowl afterward….
Flight #5 was possibly the most entertaining. Clint showed up, ill, to find Tracy a new partner, and wound up competing. Ty and Leanne were highly-touted as a 'team to beat,' and Ty didn't disappoint, finishing in 3:03 to take the fastest Fran of the day. Michele chipped a tooth on the Thrusters, but found zero sympathy from Josh (for whom she'd paid 10 cans of food!) She turned and told him, "I broke my tooth!" He threw his hands in the air and yelled, "All right!" Meanwhile, Max and Amy quietly moved on to the second round, almost unnoticed…..
SECOND ROUND
We had a small mixup announcing teams for the second round. Ty and Leanne had to remove themselves, so Ty took over the event coordination while I mentally prepared myself for Round Two. Lori was ready and eager, so she led us out of the gate. We had to face down Dave and Jer, who were now ranked first overall, and who had rested for the last hour. Toni and Betty-Lou looked ready, and Whitney and Fran looked REALLY ready. We stayed with them for the first round, but then I lost track. Toni and Betty-Lou finished extremely quickly, but paid the price with 6:00 worth of penalties for using weight that looked too light. Jeremy and Dave RIPPED it, and ultimately won ROUND TWO. In the second flight, both Alecia and Nicole Kinsell used less weight on Thrusters, and though both teams flew, the penalty wound up knocking them back a bit. Philsy and Rich, though, hammered through to finish fourth, and Max and Amy quietly took the round apart. Max told me his goal was just to 'use good form.' I think the mother-son connection helped, because their transitions were FLAWLESS.
THIRD ROUND
Despite what they said, I think Philsy and Rich were pretty happy to make the Final Four. Dave and Jeremy looked STRONG out of the gate, but had a few Thrusters called back, and extra reps are very costly in this game. Max and Amy focused on technique, and that was enough to take the belt! Ray and Nicole were the fastest As Rx'd, even though they missed a few pullups and had to redo them. Nicole looked absolutely ecstatic when she won, and I'm not sure if Max has touched down yet.
Great job by all competitors. Definitely one of my favourite events to date! Thanks for the Food Bank support – 202 donations, loaded in the van in 1:33!