First of all, let me say that I’m not much of a writer, blogger, or whatever you want to call it. However, I feel the need to express my gratitude to our wonderful community of members who are such a vital part of any and all success we’ve experienced.
2012 has been quite a year for CrossFit on the Plains. At this time last year, we were at about 60-70 members, and I can remember stressing over how we were going to fit everyone into our modest 2,400 sq. ft. space as the new year rush loomed. Thanks to the cooperation and patience of our wonderful members, we were able to make a smaller space work even though classes grew to 20+ people at times, and our membership grew to around 130. As many of you now know, we decided in October to expand our space 125% to 5,629 sq. ft. in order to accommodate our growing numbers.
More space to train in isn’t the only thing that evolved during the year. We also added to our training staff with the addition of Quinn Otte and Ian Morgan. Who I choose to be on our training staff is not something that I take lightly, because I owe it to each member to make sure that they are being instructed by the most qualified coaches possible. Our coaching staff has been vital in making our gym a successful place to train, and I promise that we will continue to strive to make ourselves better in order to provide the best fitness training in Auburn.
One of the most rewarding parts of owning a CrossFit affiliate is being in a position to give back to our community through fundraisers. This year we were able to put on several events that raised money for the following organizations: Barbells for boobs benefiting Mammograms in Action, CrossFit for hope benefiting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and CrossFit on the Plain’s Winter Throwdown benefiting Storybook Farms. We were also able to make contributions or sponsor events such as the Brothers in Arms organization and Auburn’s Power of Pink Walk event. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an event coordinator, so the only way these fundraisers would be possible is through the help of our community. Our members have consistently volunteered their time to be judge and compete in events, help clean and set up for events, and donate toward various charities.
Lastly, I would like to thank some people who have been very important in making CrossFit on the Plains a better place. Thanks to my wife Kelly, who has helped me with more things than I can even name, and is responsible for most of the good ideas that we come up with. Thanks to Ian Morgan for the hundreds of hours spent working on the expansion of the gym. Thanks to Rich Laird, Philip Cala, Ian Morgan, and Quinn Otte for doing such a great job coaching all of our athletes. Thanks to the following people who helped work on the gym expansion: Eric Koch, Maurice Campbell, Hannah Berryhill, Patrick Miller, Jessica Laird, Jenny Robinson, Jessica Bachkora, Alexis Totin, Ali Morgan, Brian Swann, Len Cowling, Emrald Black, Justin Guizar, Sid Swaminathan, Maggie McCollum, Mike Jones, Aric Wells, Janie Brady, Bentley Evans, Annie Reeves, Andrew Smith, Kevin Manning, Kevin Wimmer, Chris Philbrix, Mac Wright, Erica McDaniel, Scott Kennedy, Ben Price, Ben Nowland, Ben Denton, Taylor Houston, Alby Almarez, Josh Bostick, Tyler Krepps. I apologize if I left anyone off this list that deserved to be recognized. Thank you to you all!
Happy New Year! Bring on 2013
