2017 CrossFit Open: The Seven Year Itch
Seven years have passed since CrossFit Amplify opened its doors to the public. We celebrate our anniversary the first week of April each year.
This is also the seventh CrossFit Open. Year one of the Open occurred at Amp's one-year celebration.
I remember marking our first year as a success and vividly recall the first anniversary day, just as I remember each and every CrossFit Open workout since then. From 11.1 to 17.5, Mike and I have welcomed the worldwide competition as a test of fitness. But we also use this chance to watch our members come together and celebrate each other. It is more than just five torturous weeks of physical tests and mental challenges. It is a reminder to us of the community that exists within the Amplify abode.
Amplify had another 100+ members register for the 2017 CrossFit Open. That makes four years in a row at that number, which is always a mark of pride to see among the 300+ participating gyms in the 11-state North Central Region.
100 athletes got the itch to complete the Open workouts and see how they rank on the worldwide leaderboard. That's now seven years of witnessing this competitive itch, which has helped Amplify members push their mental and physical limits to do things they never thought possible. Each season we have Amp athletes complete a skilled movement for the first time or PR a lift during an Open workout. This is something you won't see in the digits on a computer screen. A submitted score will never show the emotional struggle or the small accomplishments or the uproar of a spontaneous cheering section at our gym's Friday Night Lights.
I write this every year: Mike, myself, and all of CrossFit Amplify could have only accomplished this with the immense help and involvement of many past contributors, our fellow trainers, and of course the AmpFam itself.
Community Veteran members can attest that our Amplify community remains steady as an entity of acceptance in and outside of our facility. It's a second family.
We have seen lots of changes in our community in seven years-- we've witnessed career moves, relationship changes, marriages, babies... even loss and heartbreak. Through it all, our gym stands as a place to come together in support. The Amp community rallies behind each other with energy and passion-- not just to complete the Open workout or the daily WOD, but to bond in something larger than physical fitness.
We struggle, we laugh, we scream... we even cry together. If that's not the definition of family, then what is?
Results The Amplify team finished 60th in the North Central Region. Another good showing among very strong gyms in the midwest.
This year's Central Regional Events will be held in Nashville and combines the North Central and the Central East in a "super regional" for the weekend. It will be live-streamed from May 26-28.
Also, in a change of venue, the CrossFit Games is held in Madison this year from August 1-6. The best athletes and teams at Regionals will compete at the Games, the world’s premier test to find the “Fittest on Earth.”
Resiliency The best part about CrossFit and the Open is that it exposes our weaknesses, our goats, to work on.
But at the same time, use this opportunity to look back on what has been achieved. Life is a whirlwind, but we continue to make our health a priority. We all have a life outside of the gym, and we need to be okay with the ups and downs of setbacks and progress.
Stay consistent. You and CrossFit have been through a lot, whether you just started with Amplify or you've been with us so long you can remember a place without turf. Our fitness journey is always a work in progress.
The only seven year itch here is the one to continue. Deflect adversity and stay resilient. Scratch that itch to constantly push to become better than yesterday.
Congratulations So we put closure on another Open and welcome in the start of year eight as CrossFit Amplify.
Congrats to those of you who took on the 2017 Open, and we welcome those who will join in the carnage of 2018.
Cheers to five weeks, to seven years, and a future of fitness, family, and fun.
- Scott, 4.1.17