CrossFit competition three workouts worth of exertion
The gym at CrossFit Recreate, 542 Fairground Hill Road, was filled with the sounds of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and the clang of dropping metal weights.
The nine entrants in Wednesday’s 2024 Can-Am Police-Fire Games CrossFit competition were deep into the second of three contests designed to pick a male and female winner, as well as a male winner in the scaled division for less skilled or experienced CrossFit participants.
In the end, Alex Good of Lancaster placed first in the scaled men’s division, Krystal Forrest of Nova Scotia was the women’s winner and Lukas Balkovec of Melbourne, Ontario, won the men’s division.
They and the rest of the contestants didn’t have an easy path to the gold.
Alicia Haller, the co-owner of CrossFit Recreate with her husband, Ryan, said the event was essentially three standard CrossFit workouts in one morning plus a fourth “floater” workout of the day that contestants had to complete between the three main events.
She said the first round started with a 1,000-meter trail run followed by three rounds each of 21 burpees, 15 pullups, nine front squats and ending with 1,000 meters on a rowing machine.
“First place brings you one point, second place two points and so on,” said Haller. “In this case, the lowest score is the winner.”
And just to add to the degree of difficulty, some athletes would use the 30-minute rest period between rounds to complete the floater exercises, which included bench hops, pulling and pushing a weighted sled, leaping over bars in a yoke device and then carrying the yoke from one end of the exercise area to the other.
“The exercises were programmed by Ryan,” said Alicia Haller, adding that while competitors were informed ahead of time of the exercises in the three rounds, the floater exercises were a surprise for them.
“CrossFit is being prepared for the unknown and the unknowable,” she said.
The Can-Am Games event was just one of several a year at CrossFit Recreate, said Ryan Haller. “We hold three competitions for fundraisers.”
Marissa McNeil, of Nova Scotia, a forensic accountant who traveled to Butler with Forrest, said the competition consisted of “the normal movements you would see on a day-to-day basis but not in this short of a time.”
McNeil said she and Forrest work out together at CrossFit Basin View in Nova Scotia, but McNeil was just an observer of and not a participant in Wednesday’s contest.
Good, the eventual winner of the men’s scaled division, during the break after the first round of exercises, said, “The first round was a little more high cardio than a typical CrossFit class. That would have been one whole class, and we’re doing three classes this morning.”
“I’ve been doing this for five years,” said Good, the police officer with the Northern Lancaster Regional Police Force. “I got into it for strength and fitness.”
“I did better than I expected. Must be because of the adrenaline,” he said of his first round results.
The CrossFit competition was not the only Can-Am Games contest Good had entered.
“I have CrossFit on Wednesday, golf on Thursday and ice hockey Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’ll probably be in a wheelchair by Monday,” said Good.
Chad Alexander, an armed security guard at the Bruce nuclear power plant in Tiverton, Ontario, was also happy with his results in the first round.
“I’m definitely happy with my performance. I knew it would be tough competition and I’m happy how it went,” Alexander said. “Right now, I’m just trying to cool down, bring my heart rate back down. I was maxed out on that one.”
“This is all a typical CrossFit workout,” he added. “It’s a really big push. You have to hang in there and have a little bit left for the end and finish the day strong.”
He said he has been CrossFit training for 10 years but this was his first competition.
Eventual women’s winner Forrest, a firefighter with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, said of the experience,” I’m feeling good. I’m meeting and lot of new people and enjoying the state.”
Forrest said she and McNeil planned to spend a few days in Pittsburgh and take in the sights and a Pirates/Phillies game before traveling back to Nova Scotia.
Balkovec, a firefighter with St. Thomas Fire and Rescue, echoed Forrest’s sentiments.
“I’ve made amazing connections through CrossFit,” Balkovec said. “It’s lovely meeting people from the States and other countries. It’s all part of the camaraderie.”
