Saturday 4 October 2014

Jennifer Kovach Memorial Workout - Competition Recap

Just after midnight on March 14, 2013, Guelph Police Service Constable Jennifer Kovach was responding to a call for assistance from a fellow officer when she lost control of her vehicle and struck a transit bus. Despite rescue efforts, Guelph Police Service lost an officer and a friend. Jen was hired and went through Ontario Police College at the same time as my husband.  

In memory of Jen and her service to the citizens of Guelph, the CrossFit community created the Jennifer Memorial Workout as annual "Hero" Challenge. CrossFit "Hero WODs" (or workout of the day) are a symbolic gesture of respect to the fallen and act as a tribute to those that have lost their lives in service to others. Proceeds from the event go to the Jennifer Kovach Memorial Trust Fund which finances an award for a graduating female student of Police Foundations at the Conestoga College Kitchener campus.

This event was a partner competition and I joined forces with Jay. Out of simplicity, we re-used the team name "Jacked & Classy". In hind sight, we perhaps should have used "The Dr & the Nurse". At any rate, the challenge consisted of 3 workouts. 

WOD #1 was "Death by Deadlifts". This was the workout which I was most fearful of, solely due to the sheer volume of deadlifts and my history of lumbar injury. The workout had a 10 minute time cap and involved a progression of 28-24-20-16-12-8 deadliest and burps. If your team was lucky enough to make it down to round 8 with time remaining on the clock, then you began to climb your way back up the ladder. Jay and I made it into the round of 12s and ended up finishing 7th out the 14 teams in the women's scaled division.

WOD #2 was "Run Beretta Run". This was a barbell workout, which I greatly appreciated. However, there was one twist - every minute one partner had to do a 60 yard sprint (FML - I hate running). Jay and I finished this one in 6:18 and landed 4th in the scaled division. The rep scheme involved completing 30 repetitions of:   
30 Thrusters
30 Power Cleans
30 Push Press
30 Back Squats 
30 Front Squats

WOD #3 was "72" which was Jennifer Kovach's badge number. This workout also had a 10 minute time cap and involved 72 repetitions of:
72 Box Jumps
72 Kettle Bell Swings
72 Wall Balls
72 Sit Ups
72 Over Head Walking Lunges
72 Clean & Jerks

Jay and I made it to the OHWL which really pissed me off because C&J are my bread and butter!! But I still think we had a very respectable finish. I'm not sure what our official finish was for WOD #3 but at the end of the day, Jay and finished in 3rd place. 

Definitely a good showing by all those in attendance. And a shout-out to the organizing committee who put on a fantastic event. Overall, I'm happy with our performance and I want to give a HUGE thanks to my fantastic partner who came in for this event after working a 12 hour shift!