OUT in the OPEN, CanWest is Very Canadian

OUT in the Open hosts an all-inclusive CrossFit Open leaderboard. The CanWest Games is inviting the top-20 Canadians. NOBULL + Breast Cancer.

Thursday, October 3rd, 2019

In a world where fitness is queen and sport is life, one man and his dog will record a daily podcast. This is WODDITY.

Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. If this is your first time, that intro isn’t normal. I’m just getting you a giggle to get you through the week. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.

My name is Ben Garves and today is Thursday, the 3rd of October, 2019.

I’m officially naming this week, NOBULL week. The apparel company is back in the news this week for their Check Yourself Collection. This selection of fifteen shoes ranging from pink to purple are designed to raise awareness about self examinations for breast cancer. Half of all proceeds from the collection this month will go to the The Keep A Breast Foundation, which empowers young people around the world with breast health education and support. Check WODDITY.com for the show notes with a link.

The CanWest Games in Vancouver, British Columbia is a new member of the CrossFit Sanctional cohort for 2020. Along with running their own online qualifier in early 2020, this June event is doing something unique: they’re going to invite the top 20 male and female Canadians from the 2020 CrossFit Open. If 2019 standings hold true, that would include Jean-Simon Roy-Lemaire, Samuel Cournoyer, Alex Vignault, Jeffrey Adler, Patrick Vellner, Paul Tremblay, and more. Brent Fikowski would scrape in at number fourteen. On the women’s side we’d be talking Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault, Carolyn Prevost, Karine Shrum, and seventeen more friends.

If you’re a fan of CrossFit as a sport and you’re a fan of TED Talks, there’s an event out there for you. TEDx Santa Barbara will be hosting a TED Talk from none other than Ben Bergeron. Ben is a former CrossFit Games team athlete, owner of CrossFit New England and CompTrain, part owner of NOBULL, Fuel for Fire, and CrossFit Tilt. He just so happens to also be a published author of his book Chasing Excellence, a co-host of the Chasing Excellence podcast, and the coach of Brooke Wells, Katrin Davidsdottir, and Cole Sager. We’ve got the link to buy your tickets.

Following last week’s head-to-head battle between OCR athletes and CrossFit athletes at a Spartan Beast in Tahoe, Hunter McIntyre and Jacob Heppner sat down for a chat. I won’t tell you what they’re wearing or what they’re drinking, but here’s a hint: it gets a little breezy. Find the link to the video in our show notes.

Jessica Danger at Morning Chalk Up wrote a story this morning about CrossFit Mayhem’s work on behalf of AMRAP for Autism. Working in teams of two, more than 120 athletes packed the gym for a Rich Froning-programmed workout. CrossFit Games athlete Kristin Miller participated in the event, while Rich, Tia-Clair Toomey, and Shane Orr were in attendance to support. This was the first event of AMRAP for Autism’s global initiative, seeking to raise awareness and money for local Autism charities.

Rudy Thoms, the founder of the organization, told Morning Chalk Up, “We designed Amrap 4 Autism so that the money raised in that community goes back directly into that community. So in Michigan, the funds went to Michigan… in Indiana, they went to Indiana, etc. this really helps members make a difference in their own community and is very unique for a national nonprofit.”

If you’re not familiar with the name Bruce Edwards, he is the new Chief Growth Officer for In-Shape Health Clubs. What does that have to do with CrossFit? Well, very few are aware that Edwards was the Chief Operating Officer at CrossFit from 2013 onward, spearheading their explosion as the fastest-growing franchise in the world. In-Shape currently has 65 gyms, but I think that number may get a little higher in the future.

OUTWOD, the organization supporting the LGBTQ+ community is bringing back their annual OUT in the OPEN event for the 2020 CrossFit Open, which starts next week. It is an all-inclusive leaderboard, with registration funds benefitting The OUT Foundation’s programs. As a non-profit OUT advocates for access and inclusion in fitness, access to health and wellness for their community, and more. This year, the top seven elite men and women finishers on their leaderboard will receive an invite to The OUTWOD Championship at the West Coast CrossFit Classic in Del Mar, California. 

I’m excited to be reporting live from the event, and can’t wait to support The Out Foundation’s championship. If you’re a fan of the Girls Gone WOD Podcast, they had founder Will Lanier on a few weeks ago. I’d check that out. Will mentioned interest in having CrossFit extend CrossFit Games wildcard invites to the OUTWOD champions - so if you’re listening to this and you know...or know somebody who knows Greg Glassman or Dave Castro, let’s make this happen.

And that’s it for news about CrossFit on Thursday, October 3rd. Thanks for listening. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. It’s the best way to give back to the show, because it helps more people find us. I’m Ben Garves.