The 6th annual GSO was such an amazing experience. After months of planning and preparing, the weather gods cooperated, and we had our biggest event ever. With nearly 160 athletes, 70+ volunteers and judges, and more than 200 spectators, the 908 complex was booming on Saturday. Each year when we set out to host this event it seems like an impossible task. There is too much to do and not enough hours or hands to help us get it done. Well, as per usual, we were wrong and our 908 community came out in full force and helped in every possible way to make the day run seamlessly.
Thank you to our judges and volunteers who spent well over 10 hours of their Saturday donating their time and effort. Our judges are dedicated and show up for judges meetings prior to the competition day. Our head judge Pat hosts two pre-comp day meetings to educate all of the judges on standards and workouts. We know that judging can never be perfect, but we are proud of how hard our judges work to uphold standards. We know judging can be a thankless job many times, and sometimes people can be pretty nasty in the heat of the moment. We want to say a big Thank You to all of our judges for taking on the challenge. Our volunteers helped make everything that was not the workout happen flawlessly. From parking lot attendants, to picking up bagels, coffee, lunch, changing weights, selling spectator tickets, working the 908 retail store, corralling the athletes, and assisting Erin and me in our random needs, we are beyond grateful. There are so many moving pieces to the puzzle, but you all are such an integral part, that there is no way we could run the event without you. Special thanks to Rahul and Sid who spent much of the day with us on Friday setting up, picking up equipment, and helping to finalize some last minute details. A huge Thank You to Ali who makes a Holiday out of GSO eve to spend the day taking over the coordination of the day’s events. Ali helps keeps Erin’s head from spinning right off and is a big reason why things are so organized on game day. We hope you will play hookie from work every year we have the GSO!
Thank you to all of our athletes who showed up for a long day of exercise. I know how nerve wracking competing can be, and to see so many familiar faces doing the GSO for the second, third, fourth, and fifth time was amazing. We are so humbled that the GSO is as big as it is. Our goal is to run a safe, fun, and effective competition for local athletes. The level of talent increases year after year, and we were blown away by the performances this weekend. The scaled division was nothing shy of amazing with so many athletes who are so talented. It was our first year hosting a masters division, and we are so happy that we did. The athletes were first class and proved that just because you are a few years older, doesn’t mean you can’t hang with the young bucks. Congratulations to all of our 908ers who competed, and a special shout out to Chrissy & Bart who both podiumed.
We were extremely proud of our vendor participation this year. For our food vendors we had Boxwood Coffee, Kettlebell Kitchen, and The Juice House. The was the perfect trifecta for eating, hydrating, and caffeinating all day. We had Revivify who recently moved into Berkeley Heights and focuses on Cryotherapy and athlete recovery. Prospera Supplements was new on the scene, but had a great showing and donated several prizes to all of the athletes who took a podium spot. No Matter What Apparel, Lululemon, Vigorous Apparel, and Little Big had all the clothes a CrossFitter could dream of. We also had amazing support from our PT’s Russell Altman of Elite Physical Therapy, and Lauren Shanaphy of Total Physical Therapy. Alan and Doreen from Body Restoration helped stretch athletes and keep them fresh between events. We hope the day was a huge success for each of you.
Thank you to Rosanne for hooking us up with the best pizza around, Clemente’s Pizzeria, for all of the folks who stuck around on the clean up crew. We can’t forget Delicious Heights for donating trays of food for our judges and volunteers. Also, Chipotle New Providence hooked us up with 50 burritos to keep us all well fed during the competition.
Lastly, a big thank you to Erin, for planning and putting on such a phenomenal well run competition. I heard such great feedback from so many athletes and I know that their experience is a direct result of the sheer amount of hard work, time, effort, and planning Erin puts into this event each year. I’d like to think I’m as big a part of this competition as Erin, but the truth is she is the brains behind the entire thing. I just smile and say sarcastic comments on a microphone. Story of our relationship right there.
Oh, and we were able to raise over $500 for the JDRF this year. We donate a portion of the spectator tickets every year to a cause that is very near to my heart. Thanks!
Until next year…
TC
Today’s Workout:
- Strength – Back Squat – 7 x 1 – All sets should be performed at 80% or greater. Increase weight each set, ending at a challenging single (We did 7 x 3 on 9/5 and 5 x 5 on 9/13)
- Conditioning – Teams of 2 – For Time
- 5K Row – Alternate as desired – Goal is to row each time at a challenging pace.
- Finisher – Tabata Hollow Hold – 8 x :20 on :10 off
