NorCal Master’s 2013 Announced!

Hello previous NorCal 40’s athletes and soon-to-be NorCal Master’s athletes! We have listened to your requests and have made some big changes this year. We are expanding the age brackets and allowing anyone over 40 to compete! Within this new age bracket we will have smaller divisions, making the competition a wee bit tighter. We can’t fit this all into one day so we are going big and creating a weekend long event for you. And because you will be with us all weekend, we thought we would pump up vendor village and add some awesome speakers to learn from and rub shoulders with. We aim to create an exceptional spectator experience so bring your family and tell your friends. TJ and his team are excited to get everyone together again, add to the NorCal family, and create yet another legendary event you will remember, crush and enjoy!

Here is the critical info:
– Jan 19-20, 2013
– Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA (same location, we rented the whole damn thing!)
– Age Divisions: 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60+ (YEP!)
– Huge vendor village plus Expo (learn from the pros!)

Reserve the weekend in your calendar now, registration and lodging info coming soon.

Spread the word!  No one can miss this one.

PROANOX VIDEO!

2012 NorCal 40’s SLIDE SHOW!

NorCal 40’s Slide Show 2012

Thank you Susan Crane!

THE CREW!

Does the NorCal 40’s come off as smoothly as it did without the help of these folks?  Absolutely not.

Joe Ball worked tirelessly at creating heats, movements standards, running the judges meeting the day before, coming to the venue for most of the day on Friday, walking the running path at 5:30am the day of and running the timing of the day.  As you probably know already, Joe is the Regional Director for the 2012 Reebok/CrossFit NorCal Regionals.  How much more proof do you need that this will be the most organized , well run Regional in the world.

If you need more proof about how well the Regional will be run I give you Lisa Smith.  She was our Volunteer Director for the NorCal 40’s and she will be the Event Director at the NorCal Regionals.  For us she only managed all 94 competitors, ran registration, was in charge of all athletes score cards and made sure that everyone was taken care of in general.  We are so lucky to have her.

Thousands and thousands of pounds of  plates, bars, dumbbells, kettlebells, not to mention jump ropes, climbing ropes, clips, benches, flooring, Airdynes and rowers all needed to be numbered, accounted for and set up for this event.  Jason Bannister took care of all of it.  He is like the rainman of equipment needs.  His precision of setups and break downs were paramount in keeping us on schedule and his dedication to this was unbelievable.  It will be unfortunate for me to not have him by my side at Regionals this year as he will be on the stadium floor , competing with the rest of his TJ’s Novato Team.  Thanks for the pic Greg.

Our scorekeepers extraordinaire’s , Julie Whyte and Jen Lutrell.  Yes we had a small glitch but nobody cared more about the efficacy and precision of this event than these two.  They felt awful that we had to make a correction but we are always honest with our mistakes and processing the nearly 800 scores that came through all day was no easy task.  I want them back doing this for the next twenty years.  Did I just commit to 20 more of these things?

Brian Doll wasn’t happy with the scoring at previous events so he just up and created his own.  Wodleader.com can be used for any and all competitions.  He easily tweaked a few things for us and away we went.  Man among men.

Marcus Filly with his crazy programming brain.  Constantly thinking, tweaking, refining till we get what we got.  A masterpiece of athleticism, fitness and skill.  Thanks MFilly.

Andy Boone works his magic for every event we throw.  He is responsible for Proanox, Paleocakes, HipFit and Rogue for being part of the NorCal 40’s.  Thank you Andy!

My personal crew of men amongst men.  Nick Goepp, Matt Wadlington, Jeremiah Mehler, Graham Ross, Rip Fowler, Dave Davidson, Dan Felling helped me haul all the gear from four different locations and set it all up.   Then they helped me break it all down and haul it back across bridge.  I can’t thank you guys enough.

Denise Figone is my hero.  She catered to me all day by giving me information, updates, schedule and finally libations to help me get through the day.  Sorry for the deodorant malfunction.

If you can dream in Kenny Trimble of Reds Manufacturing can build it.  He is responsible for those odd burns and bruises you have from the rope climbs and wall burpees.  He also custom-built our pull up rig.  You are a master craftsman.

To all of our volunteers and judges.  Thank you , thank you , thank you.  You gave us 12 hrs. of crouching, climbing, sweating, timing, consoling, registering, marking, organizing, filing and cheering.  And we gave you a t-shirt.  You’re unbelievable.  I will do my best to thank all of you personally as that is what you deserve and the least I can do.  Thank you and I want you for as long as you want to keep doing this stuff.

LISA R!

I took this post from our gym blog that I wrote but I think you’ll all agree that it fits here just as well.

This is the second year of putting on the NorCal 40’s and the second year of Lisa running the show. She oversees everything. Programming, venue, volunteers, judging, registration, food, parking, insurance, blog, facebook and making sure that the emcee is well lubricated with his favorite adult beverage. Everyone loves a mouthy emcee. This year was different from last though. There was pressure. Backyard throwdowns are cool but we had set a bar and we only want to raise it. Lisa is a driving force behind that. She is not only an incredibly organized individual but she has incredible vision. She knows what she likes and what she doesn’t . She has the incredible confidence to voice her feelings and then back them up. She also doesn’t hesitate to make changes if they are for the greater good and she does it with the upmost honesty and integrity. It boils down to who she is and she is someone who cares. Deeply, emotionally and without guilt she cares for everything in this community and what it stands for. You get one or two people in your life who will do anything and I mean anything for you, including family. We are lucky enough to have our Lisa. If you wear the blue she will bleed, cry, scream, not sleep, drink tequila, give you a hug and worry herself sick for you. She will also make you better than you were before you met her. For that, I personally will always be in debt to her.

PICTURES!

Check out our Facebook page for the 2012 NorCal 40’s picture album part 1.

New Final Standings

After an afternoon checking and re-checking the numbers, we can confirm that a mistake was made and we had an error in the final scores last night. The standings for the top 5 women in the correct order are:

1. Allison Belger – 7.75
2. Bonnie Lynn – 25.0
3. Sabrina Teller – 25.5
4. Cori Boone – 25.75
5. Shannon Tipton – 27.5

The difference in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place women is an astonishing .75. The competition was so tight and one small error on our part entering data under pressure last night gave us false results. We found the error and corrected it immediately this morning. Our deepest apologies to those affected, we will be in touch. Mainly, we need to get Sabrina some prizes! Congratulations to all these ladies – a true testament to how “every second counts”. You are all amazing and we thank you for being a part of an incredible day yesterday.

On the men’s side, we wanted to point out that there was actually a tie between Scott Dorrity and Kenny Kane for 2nd place. Again, such a tight and exciting finish last night! The final standings for the men are as follows:

1. Skip Hanson-31.75

2. Scott Dorrity-35.25

2. Kenny Kane-35.25

4. Brad Matsik-44.5

5. Jason Berger-54.0

Congratulations to these 10 and to everyone who competed yesterday! It is an honor to have you join us at NorCal 40s. We hope to see you all again next year!

Check back soon for photos and videos!

Final Standings

Hey Everyone-
Thank you so much for the incredible turnout yesterday and all of the amazing energy, enthusiasm and support for this event. You are an incredible group of people and we are so happy to know you!
Yes, we have come across a scoring error which was changed and thus affected the final standings for the women. Before we make an official announcement, we have decided to go back through all the scores for the top finishers with a fine tooth comb to ensure there was just this one mistake. We will do this today and get back to you asap.
We apologize profusely for this confusion and hope it does not diminish from your experience yesterday. Scoring is a high priority for us and we put many hours into the planning and execution of it. Unfortunately, human error can still happen and one little digit can make a big impact. We are working afap to make it right and will ensure that all finishers are recognized and awarded properly.
Thanks for your understanding and patience!

FLOATERS!

1. 1 RM Bench Press in 4 min (for weight)
2. Max Rope Climbs in 4 min (for reps) 16′
3. Max Burpees with jump over wall (6’/5′ ) in 4 minutes
4. 250m row, rest 45sec, 250m row, rest 45 sec, 250m row (for total time)

SUNDAY!

Hello NorCal 40’s Competitors!!!

We are so excited to see you all tomorrow morning! It is finally here! Craneway is set, and as you can see from our little teaser video last night, we have been busy!

I am writing to give you some information about how tomorrow morning is going to go. We have a limited amount of time to get you all checked in and registered for your floater heats. In order to be efficient and stay on schedule, we are making you aware of the plan so that you can assist us. Basically, your first wod tomorrow is registering for time! If we can get all of the athletes through this process in 45 min (oh yeah) then we will stay on schedule for the whole day. If you guys aren’t warm and pansy this first test, we will be set back on our tight schedule before we even sing the anthem (surprise guest for that too!).

Here is how it will work:

-Doors will open at 6:45am. Yep, a little earlier than we first told you, deal with it and please arrive, park and walk over by 6:45am.

-First come first serve on the Check-In table. Be prepared to show ID, sign a waiver, and get numbered on both arms.

-Then, according to the order in which you registered for the event on active.com, you will be allowed to sign up for your 4 floater wods. Please see the attached doc for this order. (Note: this is a different number than your athlete number.)

-We will take 4 athletes at a time and you will sign your name under the heat time you would like on a poster board on a wall. Again, you will sign up for all 4 floaters at this time.

-Please stand in a line, in order, outside of this area and wait to be called. This process will begin at 7:00am and if you are in the early numbers and you are not there, you will forfeit your right to have prime pickings of heat times.

-Floaters 1 and 2 will be running from 8:00am – 10:48am.

-Floater 3 will be available from 11:15am – 2:03pm

-Floater 4 will be available from 11:15am – 12:36pm

-We will announce what the Floaters are tonight at 5:00pm so that you can prepare your preferences for heat times prior to your arrival. When you do this, be prepared to have a back-up plan in case your first choices are taken.

-We will be caffeinated and harassing you to get in and out of the sign-up area within 1 min (oh yeah) so please be ready, efficient and considerate to the other athletes still waiting.

-This process will be complete by 7:30am and if you are in an early heat, we invite you to get right to the warm-up area. At 7:45am we will pause for a quick welcome from TJ, the singing of the National Anthem and the first heats will start right at 8:00am!

Scoring:

-Wods 1-3 will be weighted the same.

-Floaters 1-4 will each be weighted .25 and be scored separately. (they do not add up to one score, just weighted less.)

-The Final wod will be for the top 5 men and top 5 women. It will be weighted as one event (just as wods 1-3). All of the scores from the day will go into deciding who the top 3 finishers (male and female) will be.

A couple of other tidbits:

-There is space both inside and out to set up tents and chairs for you to chill. If you set up outside, please stay close to the building as there is a public walkway along the water that must stay clear. You can also set up on the grass area away from the water. Please do not set up on the front of the building (the water side) until after the completion of wod 1 (the run) as that is where you will be finishing.

-Note that it got pretty toasty in the pavilion when we were setting up yesterday. With all of the windows, the place cooks when the sun is out so be prepared. Sunblock isn’t a bad idea either if it ends up being a sunny day.

-Food and drink service does not start until 11:00am so please come prepared. (This includes coffee in the morning – there is nothing close to the pavilion so stop way before. In case you are not aware, Richmond is not the safest area so do not plan to go looking for Starbucks or Whole Foods. Either bring your supplies or buy it at the pavilion. Please inform any spectators you have coming of this as well.)

-We will have a stocked Medic Tent that I pray gets very little action tomorrow. We have the basics, including ice, so feel free to stop by if you have a need.

-I am sad to report we had a little t-shirt “mix-up” (i am being nice here) and you will not be getting your NorCal 40’s (rockin!) shirts tomorrow. They will be mailed to you asap at the address you used during your registration.

Feel free to send any questions my way that have to do with the logistics of tomorrow. I will try to answer via email but will also post online if it pertains to everyone. We hope to have you guys as informed as possible so that the registration process and then the whole day flow smoothly.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and have fun tomorrow!!!

Lisa R.

(as opposed to Lisa S. who is your ‘athlete liaison’ – suffice it to say you can call out Lisa and one of us will be able to help you!)