Gas City Crossfit holds first competition
Group hosts first tourney to promote competition and grow the sport
Gas City Crossfit hosted its first ever tournament this weekend, seeing a number of local and out-of-town teams face off in a handful of crossfit events Saturday.
The event was called the Sun City Shakedown, hosting 23 teams total. The groups were split into beginner, intermediate and RX, with two people on each team. Co-owner of Gas City Crossfit Britteny Dick says the first-time event was a success.
“I think the competition went really well,” she said. “We’ve been open for five years now, and this is the first year we’ve actually hosted a competition; we filled up about half of the spots, but it actually worked out for the best. It was nice to start a bit smaller this year. We had six teams from out of town and the rest were local, so I think it went well overall.”
Opening in January of 2013, Dick says the gym started as something she and her husband would occasionally talk about doing, but it eventually became a reality.
“My husband was into crossfit a bit before 2013 and wanted to do some personal training stuff,” she said. “He always talked about opening a crossfit gym. After going to a competition in B.C. we talked about it a lot more, then a year later we had our own crossfit gym — it actually happened pretty quick.”
Dick says the Hat community has grown to appreciate crossfit.
“It’s been pretty good here,” she said. “We were in a smaller facility for the first three years, then we just moved to the facility that we’re in now. It’s been good here, people seem to be enjoying crossfit.”
While crossfit is much different from weight lifting and body building, Dick says the family atmosphere the crossfit community has built is what keeps people interested once they try the sport.
“I can only speak for myself, but I really enjoy that crossfit can be really different every time,” she said. “When you come in for an hour session, it can be different every time, and it can just be a really fun time. I think people really enjoy the fact that it can just be a really fun thing you can do with a group of people.”
Results
Hatters Blake and Sarah Beckman took first place in the beginner category. Gaylene and Jim White of Airdrie took second. Cameron Kemp and Erin Rathgeber of the Hat took third.
Regina crossfitters Alline and Maykon Stinglin took the intermediate category. Hatters Gabrielle McKinley and Jonathon Hittel took second. Wendy Smith and Dave Barsness of Lacombe took third.
Greg Dahl and Camilla Olfert of Swift Current too first in the RX category. Hatters Melissa Kallis and Jerret Jans placed second. Locals Ash Pechey and Collette finished third.