Heather Bell decided to prove a CrossFitter could compete in all aspects of fitness, so she chose three very different events to challenge herself. Here is her story.
Heather Bell was in a race. She'd been running and hiking for over 12 hours straight when she careened into her third checkpoint. “[I was] so uncomfortable, frustrated [and] scared that it was the beginning of the end of my race, that I was crying,” Bell says. “I don’t cry often, but it was uncontrollable … within five minutes, I was walking out of the aid station saying ‘Number 67 leaving,’ still crying, and holding a piece of steak in my hand. All dignity gone.”
She still had more than 50 miles to go.
Heather Bell is co-owner of CrossFit Squamish in Squamish, British Columbia. A cross-country runner in school, she had once completed a marathon. "I absolutely hated it," she says. She's also completed the CrossFit Endurance Seminar with her husband, Jesse.
In early 2011, Bell was sitting in a coffee shop discussing CrossFit. The topic was the versatility of CrossFit athletes. She decided to prove a CrossFitter could compete in all aspects of fitness. She chose three very different events to challenge herself.
First, she coordinated a 24-hour rowing challenge. From 9 a.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, local affiliates met with their ergs in a University gym. They showed movies and a local drum band came to play for an hour. They donated the money to Right To Play.
Next, Bell sought out a powerlifting competition. She found one in nearby Lynwood, Wash. She didn't have the heaviest lifts, but won the meet due to the bodyweight coefficient being factored into the scores. At only 122 pounds, she was stronger per pound than any other female competitor at the meet.
Bell wanted to do an endurance event next.
"CrossFit Squamish appears like it has a bit of a strength bias," Bell says. "We do lots of Strongman stuff, powerlifting ... I wanted to show that CrossFitters could do distance, too."
She picked a distance: 50 miles. It was called a Mountain Ultra. Essentially, it was a double marathon that took place outside Los Angeles in the fall of 2011.
She trained by combining CrossFit Endurance with the typical CrossFit Squamish programming. “I kept a bit of long, slow distance in,” she says. “But no more than once or twice per week. I'd also break it up. Instead of doing six-hour runs, I'd go do 15K in the morning and 15K at night on the running days.”
Though she had suffered various injuries in her past from running, she found herself injury-free at the start of the 50-miler. She finished in third place. “I didn't feel like I'd hit my capacity,” Bell says.
During a mobility session with Carl Borg at CrossFit Newport Beach, she mentioned she felt she could go even longer. “Well, there's always the Los Angeles Crest 100-Miler,” he told her.
Borg, a former member of the CrossFit Endurance Seminar team, had done the L.A. Crest 100 before.
One week later, she committed to the race: 100 rocky miles of trail, done under a time cap of 33 hours.
For inspiration to complete this race, she used one of her favorite quotes by T.S. Elliot: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
With that in mind, Bell simply trained with CrossFit, including a lot of sled work, and a few longer runs. She maxed out her healthcare benefits for recovery and massage. She spent her nights sitting in a sauna to get ready for the heat. She learned how to run in low-profile shoes, which she wore in the race.
Taking a support team of eight with her, as well as dozens of members of CrossFit Squamish following the live leaderboard to check her progress, she began in the dark predawn of the Acorn Trail. Her support team ran some of the journey with her, or met her at the check stations to help with food and first aid. Her husband, Jesse, was at every check station for emotional support. But still, she was completely alone.
Thirty-two hours and 46 minutes later, Bell sprinted across the finish line with one of her team members. “We both half ran, half walked the last mile in knowing that we were actually going to make it. Once we got to the grass in the park, I pulled it together and ran to the finish line. It was the most surreal experience,” she says. “I have many times been the person at the finish line cheering in the last place people, but never really understanding how they felt.
“I spent about 26 of my 32:46 hours out there in a very dark place. It is not a place I can describe and have it make sense … you’ve either been there or you haven’t,” she explains. “And when you were there, you either made something of it or it ate you up. This race is proof that the value of an experience has nothing to do with how you place. Thank you everyone for showing me more than ever in my life that I live in a loving and supportive network of people. Isn’t that really what we all strive for?”
Bell documented her story here, including her training.
