Front Range CrossFit | Denver's leader in fitness, strength & conditioning

We have a report from our roving correspondent, Big Jon Kissick.  Here is what he writes about the day.

The Colorado Open

Over 9,500 square feet of space + 62 Olympic bars + 8,500 lbs in bumper plates + pull up space for 36 athletes + 180 athletes + 2 known and 2 unknown workouts; all ingredients for some creative approaches to athletic problem solving and a direct but non-linear path to finding out who’s got “It” as a CrossFitter.

The 2010 Colorado Open began with an introduction to the day’s events, clarification of the judging criteria and LeAnn Rimes’ acappella version of the Star Spangled Banner. 

This was followed immediately by Workout #1, which consisted of 3 minutes of max back squat reps (225 lbs, 145 lbs.) followed immediately by 3 minutes of max rep chin-over-the-bar pull-ups. 

The women’s heats started off at a blistering pace until the first re-rack of the squat weight and then quickly settled into a grinding pace.  In the women’s first workout 3 athletes decided to pass on the squat portion of the workout and focus exclusively on the pull-ups.  Natalie McLain of CrossFit Red, who finished this workout in fifth overall, battled with over-bodyweight squats.  Another undersized powerhouse was Megan John of CF Manhattan Kansas who finished tied for first with Domoni Alexander of CrossFit Verve with a rep count of 94. Second and third place in the morning heats were captured by Jasmine Dever and Kristin Olson of FRCF.     

The men’s heats started right after the last women’s heat and saw an immediate drop in the squat rep pace.  Apparently, 225lb back squats at 10 in the morning is about the same as a strong cup of coffee and a 2x4 to the glutes.  Never the less, Sam Matthews of CrossFit Red set an awe-inspiring pace with his squats in heat 2. 

Heat 4 saw the most striking CrossFit contrast when Jerome Gardner of Crossfit Red, one of the larger men in the Open, and Kevin Wu of FRCF, the lightest man in the Open, traded strategies.  Kevin's 8 squats and 75 pull-ups exactly equaled Jerome's 40 squats and 43 pull ups.  Over 100 lbs difference in body mass and identical scores for the workout. 

At the end of the first workout Nate Beard of CrossFit Red and Kevin Montoya of CrossFit Flex Gym were tied for first with 105 reps, Matt Hathcock of CrossFit Unbroken is in second and Dan Finck of CrossFit Castle Rock is in third.

The women’s second workout went off right on time.  But either the heat, the morning’s workout, or the demands of this second workout caught up with some of the athletes and several were having to sprint to beat the 12 minute cut off time.  Workout #2 consisted of 6 rounds of 7 power cleans (165 lbs, 105 lbs) followed by a 150 meter run.

The crowd went ballistic when Cheri Mcalister of CrossFit Defy, a first time CrossFit competitor, stepped it up around the final corner of the run course to clock in at 11:59:54.  In the final woman’s heat of the day, the uniquely CrossFit occurance of athletes who have finished a workout staying around to cheer on the other competitors, happened.  In this last heat a few athletes even ran the final lap cheering on their sprinting competitor.    

The top three finishers in the second women’s workout were Jasmine Dever, Kristen Olson and Shannan Simpson, all of FRCF. 

The men’s clean/run workout started without a hitch, with temperatures on the run course at 91 degrees and the temperature inside the gym approaching triple digits.  Still there remained 100+ spectators for every heat.  The warm-up gym next to the competition spaces is filled with athletes and families preparing or recovering, and the road out back is lined with team shade tents, and vendor booths.  All and all a happening of well over 500 CrossFit enthusiasts here in this corner of Colorado. 

Dan Finck of CrossFit Castle Rock streaked through the third heat with a time of 5:32, almost half a minute in front of the next finisher in his heat.  That time held up as the fastest for that workout with Matt Hathcock of CrossFit Unbroken coming in second at 5:33, and Chris Hoppe of Progressive Fitness CrossFit finishing in 5:59. 

The first day ended with explanations of the tire-flip sprint workout and the rower, burpee, KB snatch, ball-slam workout.  Immediately afterwards many tired backs and hands took off to get some much needed rest.  You can see the overall standings here.

See you at 9AM tomorrow. 

The current leaders of the competition, out on the run course.  Matt Hathcock of CrossFit Unbroken and Jasmine Dever from FRCF.