After a couple of days of talking about how we could help each other grow our sport we decided on this: The 2012 Beast of the East will be one of the  ”major event ” options for CrossFitters hoping to win the 2012 Garage Games Series in the northeast. The marriage of our 2 events should be a huge benefit to both our competitions.Combining the high profile nature of the Garage Games and the Beast of the East should make for event of epic proportions. We should also expect to see more top athletes from the northeast competing to be crowned both the Beast of the East and the Garage Game series winner.

One added benefit will be is the chance to win the cash prize from the Beast of the East and the winners purse from the Garage Games. Now that is huge! Make sure you register fast. This thing will sell out before you know it.

We could not be more excited to partner with such a great event and great group of people. See you all in October.

“The New England Submission Challenge” (NESC) will hold its first Grappling event at annual “Beast of the East” CrossFit Competition in Durham, CT scheduled for the weekend of October 12-14, 2012.

The NESC will be open to all styles of grappling (Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Sambo etc.) and will include divisions for Gi and No-Gi grappling. The NESC will be a “Submission Only” competition. Competitors will not be able to win on points or lay and pray for the victory. We are going back to the most basic form of victory; make your opponent “Tap”.

The coordinators for the NESC are Rob Magao, Jay Bell and Brad Wolfson.  Rob is the owner of the Bushido Jiu-jitsu Academy-ManchesterBJJ and CrossFit Thin Blue Line in Manchester, CT. Rob is a Brown Belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu under Professor Pedro Sauer. He has also served over 15 years as a police officer (12 years on SWAT) and is the Event Coordinator for the Physical Fitness Challenge at the annual CT SWAT Challenge.

Jay Bell is a Black Belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu and is affiliated with Royce Gracie Black Belt Rob Kahn (Gracie Tampa). Jay is the owner and head instructor of Gracie Farmington Valley in Simsbury, CT. Jay also owns and operates Submissions Inc.com which is a website dedicated to the education and lifestyle of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Submission Grappling and MMA.

Brad Wolfson is a Gracie Jiu-jitsu Brown Belt under Professor Marcio Stambowsky (Gracie Sports). Brad is the owner and head instructor of Soulcraft Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in New Haven, CT. Brad is also an avid CrossFitter.

Further announcements regarding the format, rules, divisions and registration information for the NESC will be posted here in upcoming weeks. We look forward to seeing everyone on the mat!

After not qualifying at Regionals this year, my CrossFit ego took a little bruising.  Yes, there was the thruster event that left me lagging behind the other athletes, but I still couldn’t help but wonder if I still had the fighting spirit that I once counted on to get me through CrossFit competitions.  I’ve never been the fastest athlete, the strongest, or the most technically sound, but it was this mental fortitude that got me to the Games two years in a row, and won other smaller competitions.  In the months following the Regionals, I began to doubt that this spirit could be mustered up ever again.

When Merle asked me to compete in the Beast of the East, I honestly didn’t want to do it, but figured that 5 months post-Regionals would be ample time for me to step back in the ring.  I was intrigued and fascinated with the fact that these workouts were to be more classic CrossFit/”who has the most work capacity” WODs, as compared to anything technical, such as walking on one’s hands or ring muscle-ups, etc…

WOD 1-5k.  I wasn’t thrilled about this event, but I’m used to coming up from behind.  I’m not sure that I’d know how to compete without this positioning at the start of a competition!  I’m not fast, but I’m not slow.  I was happy to set a 5k PR this day.

WOD 2- Max clean and jerk-not my favorite lift; the jerk that is…As soon as I stepped in the arena (a.k.a. a manure-scented barn), I experienced that jolt of adrenaline that only the heavy lifting component of a CrossFit competition can create.  That same jolt that is responsible for PR setting at CrossFit competitions worldwide.  While I didn’t set a PR on this day, I jerked a weight that I have been unable to move in about two years.

WOD 3-Max deads in 2 minutes~I love it! I injured my back at a small competition a month prior, but it felt good today, and love the idea that the person who wins, does so because they have the HEART to not allow their hands to slip off of that knurling~pure heart….I love it.

WOD 4-One Rep max Turkish get-up-WTF??  That literally was the first thing that went through my head when this WOD was posted.  I had never done a TGU with a barbell and knew that it would be a challenge.  However, on game day, I knew I had to stay consistent with this lift or I would drop off of the board, and it was too late in the game for this to occur.  Prior to this day, 75 was the most weight that I was able to push up at the gym (barely).  On competition day, I got 85 lbs up.  It is amazing how much energy one of those bad boys can suck out of your body!  I was pleased with the outcome of this event.

WOD 5-Overhead squats, burpees, and rowing~right in my wheelhouse.  However, there is always more pressure when an event is in your wheelhouse.  People expect so much more and there is no hiding behind excuse if you don’t perform in the manner to which you aspire.  This workout was a burner (QUADS)!  I was 100% gassed when it was over and pleased with my ranking.

AND THEN THERE WAS THE FINAL EVENT….

A strongman medley with full cleans intermingled.  I wasn’t two minutes into this workout, when my back began to scream for mercy.  I mean scream…bitch in way that it NEVER has at me during a WOD.  I’m not sure if it was pressure from the yoke, poor form on the stones, a forward inclination driving out of my squat, fatigue from the deadlifts the previous day….I don’t know, but it paralyzed me.  I moved that yoke across an arena floor that felt the distance of six football fields, dropping it every five feet.   Each clean wrenched my lower back into excruciating pain (and caused me to “christen” the floor a bit~if you were there, you know what I mean).  Then, Merle came out to ask if I wanted to quit.  Suddenly, something clicked.  That same “click” that went off in numerous competitions in the past.  That same “click” that I thought I had lost before entering the BOE.  Once this happened, there was no question in my mind as to whether or not I was finishing.  When I approached the final set of cleans, I saw that one other athlete was left performing this brutal workout.  Knowing that there was a chance that she could beat me, ignited me into fighter mode.

Before I knew it, the WOD was over.  My back wasn’t broken.  I wasn’t paralyzed, and I took third on podium.

First would’ve been better, but I was given something more valuable than two thousand dollars and a spot on the highest step of that podium this day….I realized that I still have it.  My cleans may not look the best, my Turkish get-up may not be the strongest, and I sure as hell need work with putting a yoke on my back and moving it, but I got my fighter spirit back.

            Team Connecticut,  and the New England Weightlifting Committee,  http://www.newenglandlwc.com/wp/,  were proud to present the first annualUSA Weightlifting sanctioned Beast of the East Open Olympic Weightlifting Championships at the 2011 Beast of the East Crossfit Games. With an excellent turnout of 49 lifters, young and old, novice to international caliber, this meet was an excellent representation of Olympic style weightlifting inNew England!

See all results, including entire meet video at: www.connecticutweightlifting.com

            The women’s session began at 10 am Saturday, with 8 year old Gwen Rojas making 4 of her six attempts with excellent style. Gwen weighed just 36.7 kg (80.7 lbs), and snatched 22k (48.5) and clean and jerked 25k (55). Gwen’s mom, Gwen Sisto, won the Women’s Best lifter award with lifts of 78kg (171.6lbs) snatch, and 87 kg (191.4) clean and jerk, weighing just 62.8 k (137 lbs). Alison James showed flawless style weighing just 49.6 kg (109.1 lbs), snatching 56k (123.2) and jerking 72k (158.2 lbs!).

            World ranked crossfitter Jenny Davis of Crossfit Performance in Fairfieldqualified for USAW Senior National Championships in her first Oly competition, with powerful lifts of 63kg (138) snatch and 88 kg (193.6) clean and jerk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPhto_jeGjc&feature=related

            Heavyweight Carly Mauch , weighing 80.8k (177.6)  hit a nice 103k (226.6) clean and jerk for the highest Women’s lift of the day.

            Our competitions include Masters Divisions for lifters 35 years of age and over. The Women’s Masters award was won by 42 year old Stephanie Baker of Robinson weightlifting in Bridgewater Mass. Weighing 57k (125.4), Stephanie snatched  49k (107.8lbs),and jerked 58k (127.8). The Men’s award was claimed by 46 year old TeamConnecticut’s Paul Garasimowich. Weighing 91.5k (201.5lbs) , Paul snatched 85 k (187.6 lbs) and jerked 110 k (242).

            The lighter 4 of the 8 Men’s classes followed. A battle in the 69 kg (152lb) class had Brian Swedrock of East Coast Gold leading by 2 kg in the snatch with 92 kg (202.4), but Dave Almeida came storming back in the clean and jerk with 122k (268.4) to Brian’s 120k to tie in total. In case of a tie, the win goes to the lighter lifter, Dave Almeida, who weighed .3 kg less! 

            Yony Andica was Men’s Best Lifter of the day with some absolutely phenomenal lifting. Making just his first snatch with 130 kg, Yony stormed back to go 3 for 3 in the clean and jerk, ending with 180 kg – 396 pounds! This lift is just 10 kg under the American Record! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHc2z5cfxn0&feature=mh_lolz&list=HL1319201443

            On Sunday, the 4 heavier Men’s classes, 185kg (187) and up saw Peter Madow, weighing just 187lbs, do a lifetime best clean and jerk of 164kg (360.8). National medalist, 2011 Crossfit Relentless Open Best Lifter, and Day 2’s Best Lifter Yasha Kahn easily won the 105kg class with fine lifts of 148k (326) and 176k (376.2)  attempting a 183k ( 402.6)  clean and jerk that just wouldn’t go.

            Thanks to all at Crossfit Relentless for inviting us to this fine competition. The energy in the room was amazing! Congratulations to all the competitors for their fine efforts, and thanks to all the spectators for their support. We are proud to be a part of this great display of physical fitness and strength.

            Our next meet is November 20 at TrinityCollegein Hartford. This is an excellent chance to sharpen your Oly lifts and give a competition a try! Spectator admission is free. Lifters entry form is at www.connecticutweightlifting.com. Entry Deadline is Nov 7 so enter soon, and please feel free to contact me at garyv@optonline.net with any questions about the competitions or to try a private or small group session here at TeamConnecticut inWilton.

Sincerely,

Gary Valentine, M.A., CSCS*D

Head Coach, TeamConnecticut

Meet Director, 2011 Beast of the East Olympic Weightlifting Championships.

Sweat spills out of every pore and blood vessels burst in both eyes as the iron yoke digs mercilessly deeper with each step. My back under devastating pressure as the mantra “left, right, left, right, just one more step, one more step,” peacefully plays on loop in the most intense psychological warfare of my life. First, let’s talk about how I got myself in this situation.

Beast of the East 2011. When the 5k run, 2min AMRAP deadlifts, and 1RM TGU were announced I could not help but wipe the drool off of my face. Being a smaller athlete I can run, deadlift is my best lift, and I happen to have been practicing my Turkish Get Ups the past few months so the 1Rm event could have been a lot worse. When the 1Rm clean and jerk was announced I quickly realized this was going to be a weekend for the big boys. I put up decent enough scores to land me in 9th place going into the WOD 5 metcon – finally some gymnastics! At this point I knew there was no shot at the podium but I wanted to accomplish my goal of not leaving until I gave it everything I had which meant making the finals. 5 WODs, 6 WODs? I’m already in pain, one more won’t be too bad.

Boy was I wrong. I had done all the movements before, so mentally I was pretty good to go. I flew through the squat cleans and the farmer’s carry was manageable – off to a good start. Then I got slapped in the face with a stone. My back was already screaming from a weekend of posterior chain beat downs, and these stones put it over the edge. I finished the second farmer’s carry and that’s when the schizophrenia started kicking in.

I generally don’t share what goes on in my head when I’m in those dark places because I don’t know if it’s normal or not normal, but some crazy shit goes on up there. This is when a couple personalities start battling for the rights to control my body. “Hole-lee-shit, this yoke is heavy. Just take a breath and go again. Ok, didn’t go anywhere. Try again. Didn’t go anywhere. Fuck.” After a few bouts of this I think every other competitor was finished the WOD and my yoke moved a total of 15 meters.

Voice number two decided to chime in: “Dude, I don’t know if you’re capable of finishing this WOD.” This was only the second time in my entire life I contemplated quitting a workout. “Stop being a bitch – people are watching you,” voice number one replied. This is when a judge said, “Ian, I know you’re a tough kid but sometimes you gotta be smart.”

“RRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH FUCK YOU!!!!” (Y’know who you are, and I love you, but this is what was going on in my head.)

After that I snapped. The negative voice got quiet, throwing in a few little comments like “Dude, you don’t have health insurance,” and “Maybe they’ll time cap you.” But it was completely drowned out by the rage and harmonious insanity of my real voice. When I got to the stones the only thing that got me through is what makes CrossFit CrossFit. The voice of Pat Smulligan from CF New England, a man I had just met, saying, “Ian, just pick it up once.” A stranger to me 48 hours prior had convinced me 8 times in a row to just pick it up once. From there on out it was fun… in a sick and twisted kind of way. The fans wanted me to finish just as bad as I did, and the pain disintegrated.

This final WOD is the sole reason why I CrossFit. Like all of us, I have been betrayed and had my trust broken more times than I can count, but as Henry Rollins said, “The iron never lies.” In that moment when you are faced with the decision to put the bar down or keep going, to run faster or just cruise, to quit or grind it out you find pure truth: Are you that badass you’ve told yourself you were your entire life, or not?

Nice work Ian.

“The first event was a 5k hill run which was awesome.  People thought coming into this event there was going to be ”true” CrossFit workouts up the pie hole; but there really wasn’t.  We hit all modal domains and tested fitness.  After the run was a 1RM Clean and Jerk.  The transition from the run to the lift was pretty quick so I’m sure people were pretty tired.  But I have a decent recovery rate so I was ready for the lift.  My PR C&J is 325# but I hit 315# with a Power Clean.  I then attempted 325#, got the full squat clean and missed the Jerk.  Pretty pleased with my first 2 WODs”.

“The last event for the day was a 2 minute AMRAP of Deadlifts @275#.  This was absolutely brutal.  It rocked my entire midline and left me bruised for the next day.  I smashed out 52 reps and was hurting right after that.  So I went back to my hotel and got some serious rest.  The next morning I was ready for the day.  The first event was a 1RM Turkish Get-Up.  I have never done this lift before so whatever score I got I would of been happy with.  I really wanted 135 and failed my first 2 attempts.  I then hit it and said, “Lets go for 140″.  My first attempt I hit it and was ecstatic. That was my worst event placing 9th overall in that”.

“WOD 5 was a “true” CrossFit WOD.  The WOD was 21-15-9 of Calorie Row, Overhead Squats @95 and Burpees.  I was pretty pumped for this WOD because the OHS are like air squats to me.  I just hate rowing.  I was pretty far behind in the workout and I came back in the last round blasting it out”.

“The final WOD was interesting.  I normally do not train these movements and to do them in a workout was different for me.  It was a Strongman Medly and it was for time: 8 Squat Cleans at 155, Farmers Carry with 160 in each hand (I believe the distance was 100m) 8 Stones, Ground to Shoulder, Farmer’s Carry back.  Another 8 Cleans, a 500# Yoke Carry to the Stones, another 8 stones and Yoke Carry back to the starting position.  8 more Cleans and the WOD was finished.  I hate stones so for me to bang them out like I did that day was pretty awesome.  Ive only used them twice in my life I think, and Ive only carried a Yoke possibly 5 times”.

“That workout was totally out of my element.  I am extremely happy I decided to do the Beast this year.  I wanted this different kind of training to use and to continue to use to help prepare for me next years season.  This year was my first go at the Games in Cali and I was unprepared.  I didn’t know how to rope climb that well, I am not a very good at the Snatch and the Farmers Carry got to me a bit.  I need to add different elements to my training and I think the BotE was a great start. Overall I am extremely satisfied to compete again and I will use my experience to help me as an athlete to prepare for next year”!!!

A winner is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS!

Hours before receiving her email we had already figured out our error and were busy trying to contact both Teresa and Christy. Once we reached Christy we informed her of the issue regarding scoring.

Knowing it would not be fair to Teresa to strip her of her title and winnings the only fair and acceptable thing to do was for the Beast of the East to match the $2000 prize winnings for Christy. When we spoke to her she thanked us for contacting her and refused to accept the money. She said she was just glad that we told her and really didn’t want the money. We of course, insisted. In the end she allowed us to match the winning prize money and we thank her for doing this.

We believe this also reflects volumes about Christy as a person and CrossFit athlete. The honor and integrity both of these ladies possess is nothing short of exemplary. They are shining examples of what we all strive to be. Thank you ladies for for all that you are.

Now the one cool thing about this whole mishap is that it sets up a very interesting backdrop for the 2012 Beast of the East. Both ladies have expressed eagerness to come back next year and battle it out once more for the title of the Beast of the East.

We are looking forward to that very much ladies!

Having said this, We are not above admitting our mistakes and we learned a lot of lessons from the 2011 BOE. We have identified multiple areas where we need to improve and are already working on them. I’m sure you all have a list you could add to these but here are just a few.

Check and recheck technology. You cannot plan for every possible failure but having more redundant systems is a must.

More organization is essential. You cannot plan enough. We will streamline lots of different components of the BOE including registration. The waiver for the 2012 BOE will now be online when you register and we will have more people available to process athletes when you show up.

Athlete village needs to be closer to the action both for access to athletes and also for better communication before events.

Cleanliness. The main building was supposed to have been cleaned and ready for us and it wasn’t. Preparations and set up took all our time and we we’re not able to deliver the space in the way we intended. We will take the blame on this and it will not happen again.

Our First Aid team needs to be more visible so athletes know where to find help when needed.

The Beast of the East is about testing your all around fitness levels. While it is a CrossFit competition we do not plan on trying to replicate the  CF Games. We place a premium on strength and it has been expressed to us that we did not make this clear enough. We apologize for the commuincation gap. Expect traditional CrossFit metcons but also expect to move heavy weight.

Having said that there was a major component of fitness that was mostly absent this year and that was gymnastics. This is already being addressed as we are purchasing a new Rogue Rig for the 2012 BOE.

Thank you all for attending the 2011 Beast of the East. Thank you to all our sponsors for helping us make this possible. Thank you to the dozens of volunteers who also made this possible. Thank you also for all your feedback, the good and the bad. You have already helped us make the 2012 Beast of the East better.

You can view them here.

Thank you all to all the amazing athletes who came and laid it all on the line for the title of the BEAST of the EAST in 2011.

Thank you to all the spectators who came out for a weekend of fun and cheered all our athletes on.

Thank you to all of our awesome sponsors who supported the Beast and made this all possible.

Thank you to the dozens of volunteers who gave up their weekend to put on such a great show.

The weather gods smiled upon the BOE with stunning, summer-like temperatures. Equipment failure and scoring issues notwithstanding, the 5k run proved far more challenging than many assumed it would be. A common refrain heard throughout the weekend was “my legs are smoked from that run.”

On the heels of the 5k run both teams and individuals were in search of a max weight clean and jerk. The men’s max weight lifted was 315lbs. We had a couple of 300 plus lb lifts in the team clean and jerk as well. It pays to be strong if you are going to compete in the Beast.

The 3rd wod for individuals was the SICFIT wod consisting of max rep deadlifts in 2 minutes with a mens weight of 275 Lbs and a womens weight of 185lbs. The highest rep total for this wod was 57 reps!

Sunday morning we kicked off wod 4 for individuals with a max rep Turkish Get-Up and the highest weight of the morning was 175lbs!

Team wods 3 and 4 were back to back wods consisting of a team 2k row with a cap of ten minutes. The teams rested the remainder of the 10 minutes, and then immediately attacked a chipper of 20 ground to shoulder atlas stones,100 hand release push ups and 200 box jumps to a 20 inch box. This workout tested the mettle of all the teams on the field, and saw a fairly large number of teams fail to complete the workout under the 12 minute time limit.

Individual wod 5 was 21-15-9 of calorie row, overhead squats (95/65 lbs) and burpees. This wod brutalized the legs and lungs and like team wod 4, many had a hard time completing this within the 10 minute time cap.

The championship round on Sunday was made up of the top 10 teams, top 10 males, and top 10 female competitors.

The word ‘epic’ fails to encompass the race that the athletes put on in the 5th and final team event. Teams completed 15, 10, and 5 reps of thrusters (95/65 lbs), with hill sprints between each round of thrusters.

When the dust all settled, CrossFit Shoreline was your 2011 Team Beast of the East and took home a check for $500 plus other great gifts from our sponsors.

The 6th and final wod for individuals closed out the weekend’s competition. It was a grueling strongman relay of 8 squat cleans (155/105 lbs), farmer’s carry 40 yrds (330/225 lbs), 8 atlas stones ground to shoulder (145/95 lbs) then farmer carry back to the start. This was followed by 8 more squat cleans and a 40 yrd yoke walk (455/295 lbs), 8 more atlas stones, yoke walk back, and finally, 8 more squat cleans to end it. This wod was reported as the “hardest wod I’ve ever done” by many of the finals athletes. The best quote of the day came from former CrossFit Games athlete Lauren Plumey, who said…and I quote…”Well, I’ve had 2 firsts today in this wod. It’s the first time a wod have ever made me pee and cry.”

When all was said and done, Daniel Tyminski and Teresa Luz were your 2011 man and woman Beast of the East. They each took home $2000 plus a lot of great prizes from our sponsors including BSc who outfitted both of them with a full outfit of gear.

In closing, the BEAST of the EAST team learned a lot about what it takes to put on an event of this magnitude. We will take what we did right and make it better. We will learn from what we did wrong and make it better. You can count on the 2012 Beast of the East to be even bigger, even badder, and even more fun! We hope to see all of you back next fall.

Again, a heart-felt Thank You to each and every person who spent time at the BEAST of the EAST.

We’ll post more highlights and after-action info in a while, but before that, here are the final standings at the close of the BEAST of the EAST 2011:

TEAMS – Final Standings

WOMEN – Final Standings

MEN – Final Standings

Congratulations to all athletes who competed this weekend.

INDIVIDUAL WODS BEGIN AT 8:00 AM SUNDAY.

you can plan your arrivals accordingly…

HEAT LISTS:

• wod 3-4 team heats
• wod 4 men heats
• wod 4 women heats

The wods were: 5k run, max weight clean & jerk, and max reps deadlifts in 2 minutes @ 275 lbs.

BEAST of the EAST Individual Male Standings after 3 Wods

Individual Female Standings after 3 WODS : 5k run, max weight clean & jerk, and max reps 185lbs deadlifts in 2 minutes.

Wod 1: 5k run
Wod 2: Team Max Clean & Jerk Combined

BEAST of the EAST Team Standings after 2 Wods

BEAST of the EAST Wod 2 Women’s results

BEAST of the EAST WOD 2 Mens’ Results

• 7:00 am – late athlete/team registration
• 8:00 am – athlete briefing for wod 1 – near start/finish line
• 8:30 am – wod 1 (individuals and teams), 5k run
• 10:00 am – athlete briefing for wod 2 – barn
• 10:30 am – wod 2 individuals – clean & jerk
• 11:30 am – team briefing for wod 2 – barn
  12 pm – wod 2, teams – clean & jerk
• 2:30 pm – athlete briefing for wod 3 – barn
• 3 pm – wod 3, individuals – sicfit 50/50, max rep deadlifts
• 6 pm – Project: Mayhem

Ongoing, and scheduled throughout the day:

• olympic weightlifting competition
• kettlebell competition
• kids’ area
• vendors area

We’ll need to wait until the 5k run begins before we know *exactly* which athletes are going to be on-site.  We should have heat assignments complete and posted (check the scorer’s table in the barn) by the time the 5k is finished.

Oh, and by the way — the rest of the wods will be announced first thing in the morning!

So, the first day, we’ve got the 5k run as our first wod, kicking off the competition for both teams and individuals.

Wod 2 for Individuals will run through about 10 heats, beginning at 10am on Saturday. Athletes will get their heat assignment for Wod 2 at registration.
Wod 3 for Individuals will begin at approximately 3pm. Heats will be assigned based on overall standings after the first two events..

Wods 2 & 3 for Teams run from 10:30 through approximately 2:30 on Saturday. Again, initial heat assignments will be available at registration, and then will be adjusted based on overall standings for later events.

As you can see, we’ve tried to give enough time between events for participants to rest and recover, but also for folks to spend some time watching the other events, like the Kettlebell and Oly lifting competitions that are happening concurrently during the day, as well as to cheer on the athletes in the other divisions.

Sunday, we kick off with Wod 4 for individuals at 7:30-8:00, Team Wod 4 is also beginning at 8:00, Individual Wod 5 at noon, and then championship Wods for both individuals and teams starting at 2pm. Our goal is to make Sunday’s finals and awards presentation happen no later than 5-6pm, as we know a lot of folks will want to get back on the road but won’t want to miss any of the action.

Please note: These times are definitely subject to change as the competition progresses. We will have updated schedules posted in a couple of different places around the fairgrounds throughout the weekend, and will also be continually posting updates both on this blog and via twitter (follow @beastcomp), if you’ve got a smartphone you can also stay on top of things there.

–minor correction, team wod 4 on Sunday morning begins at 8, not 10 as originally stated.

Tonight, we’re happy to announce three of the workouts for individual competitors, and two of the team wods. The rest of the wods will be announced at the BOE this weekend.

First, a couple of reminders:

• Remember, it is imperative for you all to try to register Friday night between 5-8 pm so we can get off to an organized and fast start Saturday morning. You will be given an athlete package complete with t-shirt,athlete and spectator bracelets, electronic race chip, and a few goodies from some of our sponsors.
• For those of you coming from outside the northeast, this weekend’s weather forecast currently looks warm and sunny with highs in the 60′s. The mornings and evenings are cool this time of year. Please dress accordingly.
• Most goods for sale at the Beast are available for cash only, including entrance fee for spectators.

And now, introducing: THE WODS.

Wod 1, for both individuals and teams:

The first wod of the morning will commence at approximately 8:30 am. It is a 5k run. Athletes will complete 4 loops of the fairgrounds on the designated course.This course includes elevation changes and flat ground. This wod is for BOTH individuals and teams.

All athletes both individual and teams will race at the same time. Every athlete will wear an electronic chip that will record their time. The clock starts once you pass the start line and ends once you cross the finish line after the fourth loop.

Teams will receive an aggregate score of all 4 racers. It pays for all 4 team members get their best scores possible.

Wod 3, for Individual competitors: SICFIT 50/50 wod

max reps dead lift in 2 minutes @ 275Lbs for men, 185lbs for women. You cannot drop the bar. A rep in considered complete when the athlete pulls the bar off the ground to full ,open hip extension and the bar is returned to the ground with both hands on the bar.

Wod 4, for Individual competitors:

Establish a 1 rep max Turkish Get up in 10 minutes. Athletes will start with an empty bar and load weight as needed. Athletes may choose to use either arm. Once the movement begin the athlete must transition to a standing position, feet together,demonstrating control of the barbell with a locked out arm and without the weight touching the ground . Once the judge clears the athlete you may dropped the bar in a controlled fashion. You do not need to reverse the TGU to the ground.

Click here for a video demonstration of the Turkish Get up

Wod 3, for Teams

20 ground to shoulder Atlas stones,100 hand release pushups, 200 box jumps to a 20 inch box. 12 minute cap. Athletes will chip away one movement at a time with only 1 athlete working at a time.Trading out athletes as needed.All athletes must complete at least one rep in each category.( stone weight to be announced at the venue,movement standards will be given at athlete briefing)

Click here for a video demonstration of the Atlas stone lift

SCORING

Rankings will be based on placing. The first place finisher will receive a score of 1. Second place scores a 2 and so on. The athlete/team with the lowest total score at the end of the weekend will be declared the Beast of the East. In the unlikely event of a tie score for all events the tie breaker will be the individual/team score with the fastest 5k time.

There will be a cut after the fifth individual wod. Only the top 10 athletes will move on the the 6th and final wod.

There will be a cut after the 4th team wod and only the top 10 teams will move on the the 5th and final wod.

See you all very, very soon!

Our CrossFit kids coach, Coach Rick, will be running a fun-packed kids program. Here is a list of events and timeline.

• 1200    Farmers and Lumberjacks
• 1230    Medicine Ball Relay
• 1300    Bus Stop
• 1330    Tire Drag Relay
• 1400    Parallette Broad Jump/Burpee/Push-up/Sit-up Rotation
• 1430    Crows and Cranes

Our goal is for the first WOD on Saturday to kick off promptly at 8:30 a.m, and the best way to ensure that this happens is to have a limited number of athletes to get through late registration Saturday morning.

For those on teams, we prefer for all of you to come so we can give you bib numbers and get waivers signed, but we will work with you if you have a conflict that prevents this.

Thanks in advance for helping make a smooth start to the Beast!