Short update from Day 1 at the HDC…
The day dawned chilly as fans and athletes gathered by the iconic Santa Monica Pier for individual event 1. A massive crowd gathered but was eerily silent as the heroes of our community gathered facing the Pacific ocean. The men lead off, and were fortunate to avoid the heavy breaks that battered the women 90 minutes afterwards. Both women and men were pushed to the limit in a WOD that extended into the 40-50min plus range. 14 hours later, three individual events were in the books, the temperature had shifted by about 20 degrees and back again, and the Zone crew were exhausted but in high spirits.
The reason: our very own Lucas “Scoots” Parker sits in 22nd position after battling with the top names in the Crossfit world. It was an amazing sight to see him trot out with a bunch of excessively lean mesomorphic robots for WOD 1… and put in some awesome performances in events 2 and 3. One of Lucas’ best assets is that his fitness and strength seem to be adaptable to almost any circumstance – testament to his excellent preparation – which serves him well in a contest format in which there are more unknowns than knowns.
At the end of Day 1, a 21 year old (but 3 year Games veteran) Ben Smith, sits in first, with Rich Froning and Chris Spealler in close pursuit after some incredible finishes in the rope climb - clean and jerk WOD. Unfortunately one of the favorites for the title, Mikko Salo, ruptured an ear drum when he was kicked in the head during the WOD 1 swim. Like a true champion, he finished the event, but looked very ragged on the last run as Scoots passed him. He is apparently doing okay now that he has been fully checked out by the medical staff.
Three other athletes have recieved DNF’s – all by way of the open-water swim difficulties – but have been allowed to continue to participate while not recieving points.
The venue is amazing, the crowd is great, and our Zoner crew is doing its best to support our boy and our buddies from Taranis. It will be an early start tomorrow morning again but we’re all looking forward to what the day will hold.
Hope you all are able to access the live feed and enjoy getting together at the gym to check it out – should be fun!
Remember – keep fit and have fun!
Cam
PS. I touched Chris Spealler’s shoulder!!! OMG.
