[Gubernatrix]

On Monday we met Owen, Samantha and Jordan. We know which events they are most dreading and we know what they’d like us to yell in support! Now meet three of their rivals in this Saturday’s clash of the Crossfit titans…


Marie
Name: Marie Collis
Age: 29 (just hanging on)
Location: Leicester
Affiliate: Intensity



What got you into Crossfit? The urge to push myself beyond what is comfortable and exceed my own limits.

Hero/favourite Crossfitter? I admire everyone in the Crossfit community for their own drive and determination at whatever level. I take real inspiration from the female finalists in the 09 Games, their athleticism is truly magnificent.

What made you decide to enter the Games? Someone entered me because they believe in me more than I do myself.

How have you prepared for the Games? Stepped up my strength work, concentrated on improving my weaknesses, tried to sort my diet and my confidence levels – all of which are ongoing works in progress

What is your most dreaded event? Anything with pull ups – I suck at them.

What is your favourite event? Met con / chipper

What do you want people to yell at you in support? Nothing too complicated. My head will be in bits.

What do you watch/read/listen to in order to get yourself all fired up? Inspirational music (+44, Green Day, Paramore, and dance) gets me fired up. I have found Crossfit radio and the journal videos invaluable in inspiring me to push myself harder.


Fergus
Name: Fergus Lally
Age: 28
Location: Birmingham
Affiliate: None



What got you into Crossfit? Jesus – It was the 17th of May 2008 at 2.38pm, roughly, and while completing a gruelling set of 1 arm preacher curls, Jesus appeared to me and said “My child, every time you do a preacher curl, or fail to go below parallel in a squat, an angel dies. Now go home and check out the article on the fitness of the Cross (or Crossfit as it more commonly known) in muscle and fitness”. So I did and here I am…

Hero/favourite Crossfitter? Crystal McReynolds. Do I really need to explain why? Don’t judge me, I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.

What made you decide to enter the Games? Mel Gibson.

How have you prepared for the Games? Over Christmas I devised an intricate training schedule designed to address any weakness whilst simultaneously improving on my strengths and therefore resulting in me entering the competition in the condition which would allow me to perform in at a level that it would make the top guys, and ladies, performances look like something I left in the toilet.

Unfortunately I can’t find it anywhere!

What is your most dreaded event? Anything that involves skipping, rowing and GHDs (or any other exercise name after a hair product). If any of those come up I’m fecked!

Or anything that involves very high number as I tend to lose count (a lot!). I once did a 4004 rep Angie, not intentionally, I just kept losing count.

What is your favourite event? A small childs worth of beer for time.

What do you want people to yell at you in support? “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

or

“Fight and you may die. Run, and you’ll live… at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!!”

or

“I wanna say something. I’m gonna put it out there; if you like it, you can take it, if you don’t, send it right back. I want to be on you”

I’d very much enjoy hearing people yell any of those.

What do you watch/read/listen to in order to get yourself all fired up? Now that I’ve finally managed to wrestle my Nsync CD back from Mike Holmes, which was harder to achieve than a sub 2 minute fran, thats on heavy rotation during workouts.


Rob
Name: Rob Arnett
Age: 28
Location: Bury St Edmunds
Affiliate: RAF Mildenhall



What got you into Crossfit? I started CrossFit in August of 2009 because my wife started attending a circuit training class at RAF Mildenhall based on the principles of CrossFit and she always raved about the intensity of the workouts.  She said she had never worked so hard in such a short period of time.  I was skeptical at first, but I decided to attend one of the classes and give it a shot.  I quickly discovered that I wasn’t nearly as fit as I thought I was.  Needless to say it was a humbling experience.  From that point on, I saw CrossFit as a challenging new way to shake up my workout routine and I started following the main site and CFFootball for my programming.  I’ve been hooked ever since.

Hero/favourite Crossfitter? I wouldn’t say that I have any heroes in CrossFit, but I do have a lot of respect for James “OPT” Fitzgerald and Chris Spaeller.  I respect these guys because they are more than just phenomenal CrossFitters, they are inspirational leaders within their communities.  They realize that CrossFit has enriched their lives and they want to share that gift with others, and I think that is admirable.

What made you decide to enter the Games? I used to play baseball and American football growing up and I’m a naturally competitive person.  I really just want to see how I stack up to the rest of the UK and Ireland.

How have you prepared for the Games? I’ve taken a varied approach to work on some of my weaknesses, but for the most part I’ve done the strength WOD’s from the CrossFit Football site in conjunction with the daily WOD’s from the main site.

What is your most dreaded event? Anything with handstand pushups or heavy pressing.

What is your favourite event? Heavy power cleans

What do you want people to yell at you in support? Anything positive to help me through the pain.

What do you watch/read/listen to in order to get yourself all fired up? I’ve been reading and watching all of the footage of the other sectionals around the world to get me pumped up.  When it comes to music, if I’m preparing for a longer workout I like to listen to trance music like Deadmau5 because it lets my mind fall into a comfortable rhythm and helps keep me moving.  If I’m doing a quick and powerful workout I like to listen to heavy metal like Alice in Chains, Tool, or Pantera.

Once again, we wish these guys the best of luck on Saturday. To read the rest of the competitor profiles, click here.

To see all posts on the Crossfit Games UK & Ireland Sectional, click here.


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