Chris and Lauren Jones planned their wedding around competing at the North West Regional.
Many people have busy weekends this time of year, with graduations, vacations, barbeques, and weddings. CrossFitters also have to plan around Regionals.
Chris Jones and Lauren Henry Jones had to plan both a wedding and prepare to represent their team – CrossFit Lake Oswego (C-FLO) – on consecutive weekends. Chris and Lauren got married Saturday, May 19 and competed in the North West Regional this weekend.
When the Regional dates were announced, they wanted to pick a date either before or after Regionals so they could still compete. The only date available was May 19. They were fine with this, since it still gave them a chance to prep for the competition.
Chris and Lauren met at CrossFit HEL in Portland, Ore., in November 2010. “I taught him how to squat,” Lauren says.
Both hold Level 1 certificates and Chris now coaches at CrossFit Lake Oswego.
Chris and Lauren competed on the team last year and say they were serious about the competition. This year has been more fun and less stressful. Instead of feeling too competitive, they went into the season with a “We’ll see what happens” attitude.
In addition to family and friends, their team from C-FLO came to their wedding. “It’s an awesome feeling to have the entire team there on your wedding day,” Lauren says.
Lauren and her friends also did a workout on the morning of the wedding. The pre-wedding workout included box jumps, sit-ups and ring rows – nothing that would leave a mark for the big day.
For this weekend’s Regional, Lauren and Chris both competed in Event 2 – rowing, pistols and hang cleans – where C-FLO finished 6th in the region.
Unfortunately, C-FLO was eliminated in Event 3 when Lauren couldn’t complete the minimum amount of dumbbell snatches to continue. They would have competed together in team Event 6, but now they have more time to prepare for their honeymoon. While they consider this weekend to be part of their honeymoon, the real deal starts after this weekend.
They are leaving for Barbados Sunday evening after the competition. And from the looks on their faces Saturday afternoon, they couldn’t be happier to spend this weekend with their friends and teammates.
