"Man, where WERE you?"
Where were you when Karl broke through? Where, when Leroux fell off the bar…for the third time? How could you have missed Cait's hands? Or Lisa's pullups; Andrea and Phil; that new kid, Logan??? Where were you when Ted said, "Winning FranFest is like peeing your pants in a dark suit…."
If you missed FranFest, you just bought a book with a chapter ripped out, friend. Counting spectators and nerve endings, we smashed over 80 people at once into the Park. The early rounds were quiet (nothing closes the mouth like a heart in the throat) but Karl cured that.
21 reps is the "easy" round – unless distraction is the toughest part for you. Then it's a looooong climb out of hell on sliding brimstone. 21 pullups – Karl's specialty – were better, but the 15 Thrusters require a lot of focus even from the fastest Franners in the world. 15 Pullups, when you're tired? Rough. I've gotta admit, as his partner, I thought I had a minute to re-warm myself before picking up a bar. Then he stood up. With a primal yell, he squeezed the bar and became machine. NO ONE ELSE did 9 Thrusters without hesitation that day. And that's when the crowd tipped.
The silent wallflowers turned papparazi around Thruster #5. You can hear them in the video below. They – you – returned his call, and he was thus baptized into our sanctum.
Round 1 featured another epic matchup between Cam Wilson and Steve Leroux. Cam finished quickly – 3:51, if memory serves (don't quote me yet….) – and Steve was on par to finish exactly the same. Then he slipped. And spilled, again. And one more time. The strength in his forearms completely gone, his power of his guts still managed an override and he finished around 30 seconds later. It was one to watch – the room holding its collective breath. The video is below:
The 'Manitouwadge Manglers', Steve and Amy Leroux:
The final heat was one of my favourites: rising CrossFit star Kiera Scott and her brave mom, Marnie; the Woods clan, all at once; Julie and Emma. A ton of juniors ripped up the first round, including Max and Glen Fisher. Sally and "Dairy Queen" (aka Alyssa) Moore, Nicole and Super Jada (she hit every.single.pullup.) Justin Moore and Alex Brownlee went Rx'd – they're both future CrossFit superstars, as well as the gridiron.
On his first pullup of the day, Logan cracked his nose off the bar. On the following 135, he was flawless. He and Ted were the models of consistency: short breaks, hard-as-steel resolve, no complaining. And it paid off. They won FranFest2010. And they'll be back…..
All told, FranFest2010 raised between $400 and $500 to help people get a better meal this Christmas. Your hunger helped ease theirs. Thank you all.