The Games Are On!

A Truly Awesome Video Promo by our very own beloved, NRG-forever Heber Cannon, now one of the head honchos over at CrossFit HQ Media

Hey all.  Just a quick heads up!

You can now register for the Games Open.

For those of you who are new to CrossFit, let me tell you how the Open works.

There are three levels of competition for the CrossFit Games: The Open, The Regionals and The Finals.

The Open is a 5-week competition (starting last week of February) where everyone in the world who signs up competes (or in many cases, "compticipates" which means "sort of competing and mostly just participating in the fun"). Each week, CrossFit Headquarters posts a workout that every competitor must do sometime during the week.  And then you submit your score on the Games website, where everyone else in the world submits their score, and you can see how amazing people are.

The top 50 or so men and women competitors from each Region (there are a bunch of regions throughout the world...we are in the Southwest Region) qualify for the Regionals.   Last year they were held in Denver, and several folks from NRG went to cheer on some of our friends who had qualified (there are a whole slew of Utah athletes we know and love that made it to Regionals (and some to Finals!):  Mary Lampas, Mike Cazayoux, Bobbie Jo and Tommy Hackenbruck, Chris Spealler, Taylor Richards-Lindsay, and a bunch others.).  This year, we don't know where it will be held.  Maybe here in Utah!  (I mean...we DO have a lot of athletes from here...I'm just sayin')

Then, the top three men and top three women from each region qualify for the Finals. Those are held this year the weekend of July 15.  And a bunch of people travel to California for those as well, usually.  I'm certainly going to plan to go!  It's an amazing sight, truly.

And I haven't even mentioned the Affiliate Team competition.  Each Affiliate (all CrossFit gyms are called "Affiliates"...so NRG is an Affiliate) is also vying for a spot in the Finals of the CrossFit Games.  Each week during the Open events, the top scorers from each gym combine their scores together to try to get one of the top spots of the Region.   So, just by virtue of registering for the Open and putting yourself down as a member of NRG, you might be helping our team increase its rankings.  If you are one of the top three finishers at NRG for any workout during the open, then your score will be counted.   The top three Affiliate Teams from each Region go to the Finals.  (I'm not sure how many teams go to the Regionals, though I am pretty sure that this year there will be a Regional Team Competition).

I can't wait to see how amazing our NRG people are.  Some of our folks have been putting a lot of time and energy into getting extraordinarily strong, powerful and skilled (did you SEE that video of Keslie doing handstand "wall runs" sans wall?)  Yes, I think some of our people are ready!

But even if you don't think you will get amazing scores like Keslie, (or Anne, or Laura, or etc, etc. etc), it's still totally worth compticipating.  It's quite fun.  During the open last year--and I suspect this year as well--we set aside special times during the week for people that wanted to get together and do the workout as a group. 

So, in short, Register for the Games Open.  Here's the website:

http://games.crossfit.com/