Congrats to everyone who participated in the Benchmark Elizabeth Challenge.  We saw some awesome improvements in everyone’s times!

We originally wanted to give a prize for each category but since some categories only had a few athletes, we’ve decided to look at overall improvement and give prizes to Most Improved Male and Most Improved Female.

And the winners are…

Nelson Dueck – Went from 20:24 to 12:45

Victoria Taylor – Went from 12:10 to 5:31

Both athlete shaved about 7 minutes off their original times!

Our winners will each receive  a check for $100!!!

Honourable mention goes to Amanda White, Amy Kroeker, who both shaved over 3 minutes off their times, as well as Darren Champagne and Quinn Taylor, who both rx’d the wod putting up some good times.

CrossFit Winnipeg will be giving its members and visiting athletes the opportunity to compete in the CrossFit Games Open Competition, starting February 22nd.

From the CrossFit Games Website:

The CrossFit Games are the world’s premier test to find the Fittest on Earth™. This year, defending champs Rich Froning Jr. from Cookeville, Tenn., and Annie Thorisdottir from Kopavogur, Iceland will seek the first-ever repeat titles at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on July 13-15. They will have incredible competition, as this will be the biggest and best year by far.

The 2012 season starts on February 22 with the five-week, five-workout CrossFit Games Open. Everyone in the world is invited to participate to see how they stack up. Tens of thousands of athletes from every continent will visit affiliates and submit videos in the quest to prove their fitness.

The top 60 men and women from each region will be invited to compete at the Regionals from April 27 to May 27. There are also divisions for Masters and Teams. Then, only the very best from each region qualify for the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games.

Fitness means being ready for the unknown and unknowable, so all the workouts change every year. These changes remain a surprise and are not announced until just before each event starts. Train as hard as you can, get as fit as possible, and be ready for anything!

We’re proud to announce the 2012 version of the Games site will launch soon. It’s been redesigned to handle the new scope of the competition, with better organization of all our coverage, plus dramatically improved competition information and support.

Welcome to the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games!

The Open (February 22 – March 25)

The Open is a worldwide competition consisting of five workouts over five weeks. Last year, more than 26,000 athletes competed, and this year will likely be a multiple of that!

Each week, the workout will be announced on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT (starting February 22). Everyone will have until the following Sunday at 5 p.m. PT to complete that week’s workout and submit their score. You can do the workout at your local affiliate or film your attempt from any gym, a garage, or park.

Once you submit your workouts to the Games site, you’ll be able to find your rank, both worldwide and in your region. You get one point for each place (i.e. five points for 5th place) for each workout. Your overall score is the sum of all the workout scores, and lowest total points wins. You can compete both as an Individual and on a Team. Individuals are divided between men and women, and Masters are divided by gender and age.

The individual athletes and teams that perform the best across the five Open workouts, in each of the 17 regions, will be invited to compete at the second stage of the Games, the Regionals. The top 20 Masters in each age and gender category will earn an automatic spot at the Games in July.

Some of you have asked for some guidelines for deciding on a competition division.

Note that all competitors will have at least 3 workouts throughout the day, with approximately 2 hours between workouts.  Some Advanced Division Athletes will have a 4^th and final workout at the end of the day.  Workouts will be announced on Wednesday, January 25^th.

Advanced Competitors may be asked to perform some or all of the following movements often seen in CrossFit competitions.

• Pull-ups
• Handstand Push-ups
• Ring muscle-ups
• Ring Push-Ups/Ring Dips
• Pistols
• Double Unders
• Wall Ball
• Box Jumps
• Barbell Movements including Olympic Lifts at standard rx’d weights
• Kettlebell Movements including Swing

This list is not exhaustive, but those competing in the Advanced Division should be able to do most or all of the these movements. However, keep in mind that we’ve scored the events in such a way that you will not be taken out of the running completely if you cannot do some of the movements.

Intermediate competitors may be asked to perform some or all of the following movements.

• Pullups (low volume or assisted)
• Ring Rows
• Push-Ups
• Double Unders
• Wall Ball
• Box Jumps
• Burpees
• Barbell Movements including Olympic Lifts at about 75% of Rx’d weights
• Kettlebell Movements including Swing

This list is not exhaustive, but those competing in the Intermediate Division should be able to do most or all of these movements. However, keep in mind that we’ve scored the events in such a way that you will not be taken out of the running completely if you cannot do some of the movements.

Novice Competitors may be asked to perform some or all of the following movements.

• Squat to full depth
• Push-Ups (modified)
• Ring Rows
• Skipping
• Wall Ball
• Box Jumps
• Burpees
• Barbell Movements including Olympic Lifts at approx. 50% of Rx’d weights
• Kettlebell Movements includeing Swing

This list is not exhaustive, but those competing in the Novice Division should be able to do most or all of these movements. However, keep in mind that we’ve scored the events in such a way that you will not be taken out of the running completely if you cannot do some of the movements.

The CrossFit Winnipeg Movember Team has raised over $800 for Prostate Cancer Canada!  So to wind down the month, we’ll be hosting mustached wod on Tuesday, November 29th in the evening…  The Modown Throwdown  (I totally stole the name from our friends over at CrossFit Toronto)

We’re thinking 5PM, 6PM and 7PM classes, as this is when most of our Movember staches come out to play.  We’ll have a few extra mustaches on hand and we hope you’ll all to wear them for the wod.  Photos will be taken and likely posted on the website and facebook, so get your hair did and come out for a fun wod.  Our CFW team members are still accepting donations at:

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1535068/

REMEMBRANCE DAY Team Workout at 9AM: Coach’s Choice

Come out to the Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre on May 28th to celebrate member Dee-Anne and husband Norm’s Wedding Celebration. Tickets  $10 each.

August Long Team Workout Part 2

Fight Gone Bad 5 has been launched and CFW is looking into organizing a local event, to be held on September 25th, 2010.  Last year, we held the event in conjunction with our grand opening party.  This year, we’re thinking of finding a public location where we could bring out some equipment, raise some money for charity and show Winnipeg what CrossFit is all about.  The only problem is that there is a lot going on at this time of year.  The date is the weekend after the Saskatoon competition and the same day as the Swamp Donkey.  So we’re going to let our members decide.   If we organize it, will you participate? Would you just do the workout or would you approach friends and family to sponsor your workout for charity?  Let’s hear some feedback.

–Coach T.

Team CFW strategic planning for 2009 games

2010 Crossfit Games

The dates and locations have been announced for the 2010 Crossfit Games Sectionals and Regionals.

Sectionals:
Central Canada Sectional: March 27-28
Bldg 185 Corner of Mons Ave and Range Road. 244 Lancaster Park AB, A2HO (Edmonton)
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba
Regional Seeds: 15 men, 15 women

Regionals:
Canadian Regionals: May 29-30
Calgary, Alberta
All Provinces
CrossFit Games Seeds: 6 men, 6 women

Crossfit HQ will launch a special Registration Website with detailed information on each event, hopefully on Monday, December 21st. Athlete and spectator registration for the Sectionals will open at launch. Crossfit HQ will do their best to allow everyone in who wants to compete, but at some point they may have to cut it off. Spectator attendance at most Sectionals will be limited, so you’ll want to act quickly.

Similarly, affiliate teams will have to qualify to compete in the Games this year. The Regional events will also serve as the team qualifiers for this year’s Affiliate Cup. There will be no team workouts at the Sectionals. The Regionals are not until May, so you have time to prepare. More information about the Affiliate Cup competition coming soon.

New addition:
Also, there will be a limited Master’s competition (50+) for both men and women. Like the Affiliate Cup qualifiers, the Master’s qualifiers will also take place at the Regionals in May. There will be no separate Master’s workouts at the Sectionals. More information about the Master’s competition coming soon.