“We were talking about how fun it is that we got to do this together anyway, and that it was cool that we were both competing individually ... He’s my fianceé now competing out there!”
Kathleen Henderson ended Day 2 of the South East Regional on a high note after she finished fourth on Event 5. She ended her night on an even higher note when her boyfriend, Adam Vinson, currently 36th in the Men’s Division, proposed.
“I did awful on Friday, and then yesterday, I did a lot better,” Henderson says. “In the deadlift/box jump, I guess I did really, really good. So I guess I was riding that high from that, and then he proposed to me!”
Vinson had been planning the proposal for quite some time.
“I considered it right after I found out we were coming,” Vinson says. “So right after the Open.”
Vinson, who owns CrossFit Oneota in Oneota, Ala., hopes their engagement improves Henderson’s performance on the last day of Regionals. She started Day 3 in 31st place.
“I thought about when to ask her,” he says. “But I didn’t want to mess with her head going into Friday or Saturday.”
Henderson, who serves as head trainer with Vinson at CrossFit Oneota, hopes that it does not affect her performance today.
“I hope it doesn’t mess me up mentally,” she says. “I’m really excited. It kind of makes it a little bit more fun today. It adds a little bit of extra excitement for me.”
While she was excited to compete at the South East Regional with her boyfriend, she is even more excited about competing with Vinson as her fianceé.
“We were talking about how fun it is that we got to do this together anyway, and that it was cool that we were both competing individually,” Henderson says. “Now, we’re doing the last day. He’s my fianceé now competing out there!”
Henderson and Vinson first met at CrossFit Birmingham.
“We met at CrossFit Birmingham ... a year ago January,” Henderson says. “We met there, and a month after he joined, we started dating. In the summer, he asked me to move to Oneota to help with CrossFit Oneota.”
Henderson’s mother as well as several of Henderson’s friends were here to enjoy the big night with her and Vinson.
“I’m really excited that my mom’s here and a bunch of my friends are here, and that now we get to go into the last day engaged is really cool,” Henderson says.
Henderson’s friends and family are not the only ones who are excited for her impending nuptials.
“Some of our members said they were more excited about our engagement than us making it to Regionals,” Vinson says.
With the last day of the South East Regional upon them, Henderson and Vinson’s focus is the competition. Her family and friends, however, are focused on when the big day is going to happen.
“Tomorrow!” Henderson jokingly said last night when her friends asked about the wedding date.
