"Some of the greatest moments aren’t when the elite athletes are going. It’s when the entry-level athletes are doing their workouts. Those are the most explosive moments."
Photos courtesy of Erin Boeckman
If you walked past CrossFit Fast Factory on a Friday night over the last month, it might have been tough to believe there was a serious competition going on.
Inside, people were wearing leprechaun costumes and tutus, and dressing like Richard Simmons with a DJ spinning high-energy music. No, it’s not a Stefon skit from Saturday Night Live. This is CrossFit Fast Factory’s version of the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games Open.
The St. Cloud, Minn., affiliate planned a series of events they called Friday Night Lights that would run in conjunction with the Open. The gatherings were half Open workout, half party and a total celebration of the CrossFit community.
CrossFit Fast Factory owner John Swanson said the idea started last year when they hosted similar Open events, but on a smaller scale. So, as a staff they decided to up the ante this year and create a series that would make each Open participant feel special.
“We wanted to take the everyday athlete and make them feel like a superstar,” Swanson said.
Before 14.1, the four full-time coaches held a fantasy football-style draft and picked teams of athletes who had signed up for the Open. Over the next five weeks, the teams competed in an in-house team challenge and earned points based on workouts, attendance and nutrition.
“That way, everyone is a team player,” Swanson said, “not just the elite people.”
The crown jewel was the weekly events. Swanson said on average, about 200-plus fans packed the 6,500-square-foot space to watch the Open workouts, which means they had to rearrange things to allow for spectator seating and room for athletes to complete the workouts.
“It sounds funny to call them (fans), but they really are,” he said.
And CrossFit Fast Factory’s members appreciate the staff going the extra mile. Kristen Lahr, who’s competing in her third Open, said the entire community looked forward to Friday nights. People would leave work early and stay late to soak it all in.
Lahr added that previous Open workout events grew organically when friends or family members came to watch. But the addition of the in-house team challenge and party atmosphere helped expand interest even further.
“John feels like this is being part of the bigger, worldwide (CrossFit) community,” Lahr said. “He’s a bit of a master marketer, in that he can talk almost anyone into anything. John certainly doesn’t do anything halfway.”
Josh Mohs said during the first few Open workouts, he’d look into the audience and see lots of unfamiliar faces, which speaks to the interest the weekly event generated. He’s grateful he’s found a coach and community that celebrates all of its athletes regardless of seniority or ability. The events, Mohs said, not only motivate but also help show that CrossFit and its athletes are approachable on any level.
“It definitely pumps you up a lot more,” he said. “And I think (having big crowds cheering me on) helps me a lot. I’ve done some of the workouts over again, and it’s just not the same. It’s too quiet.”
Swanson said he’s fielded a few phone calls from others asking for the blue print of his events, and he’s happy to share his knowledge.
“If we dreamed this, this is what we wanted. We couldn’t be happier with the results,” he said. “Everything you’d see at the CrossFit Games we’re trying to do with our in-house challenge. We want this to be their CrossFit Games.”
Lahr also hopes to see other boxes adopt the practice because of the way it promotes the community atmosphere.
“It’s so much fun to celebrate the PRs that inevitably happen during the Open,” she said. “You have people cheering you on because they work out with you, but also regular people outside of CrossFit cheering you on. A lot of people have never experienced that before. Some of the greatest moments aren’t when the elite athletes are going. It’s when the entry-level athletes are doing their workouts. Those are the most explosive moments.”
