No Excuses CrossFit 2018 Year In Review

2018 was a great year for No Excuses CrossFit. Check out all we accomplished this year.

January: We kicked off the new year with some new jump ropes from Mute Sports Equipment for our members.

February: We held our first competition of the year for Granite Games Throwdown, which allowed people to pick their best lifting buddy and compete as a same gender team. We continued our competitive spirit with our Open Prep class and 18.1.

March: The CrossFit Games Open was the highlight of early 2018. Beginning on Friday, Feb. 23 and every Friday for the five weeks during the CrossFit Open, we hosted Friday Night Throwdown (18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4, 18.5) We also had, what some may say, was the most difficult WOD of the year with the Preggo WOD for Mindy Black and Lily Villafuerte where the members taped wall balls to their stomachs, so they could experience how tough our preggo mamas are.

April: We introduced our Olympic Lifting Clinic with Adam Reese where started new Olympic classes. Another new class was offered called Birthfit Clinic that was taught by Laura Mattison, which gave insight and tips for women to help strengthen their core postpartum. Our lady members had some bonding time painting signs while sipping on wine at the Ladies Paint Party, while the men went to Don Carter State Park for the 4th annual Men’s Camping Trip. It is unknown what truly happened that weekend

May: We started the Summer off with some challenging workouts and a lot of sweat as we hosted the Granite Games Throwdown, which drew in 32 teams from all over the state. Sponsors and vendors for the event included Active Care Atlanta, WOD & Done, Fit Vine Wine, Taco Mac, and Kill Cliff. We finished up the month taking on Memorial Day Murph in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy and all of our fallen heroes that have sacrificed for our freedom. We all enjoyed a cookout after a tough WOD.

June: June was filled with fun WODs that helped raise money for some amazing women. First, we had WOD for a Cause for Makena Lundin. Enough money was raised for her to be able to take a 10 day trip to Uganda, Africa to help mentor and change the future of their children. Secondly, we hosted Amy Hood’s Hood Games to help take her fitness journey to a higher level and raise money for her to compete in the WheelWOD Games in Toronto.

July: We started the month off by celebrating our nations independence with a 4 Glory and Honor WOD for Fourth of July. Our members had fun-filled family evening of food, fellowship, and a nice game of kickball at Sim’s Lake Park for the Family Kickball and Potluck.

August: In effort to cool off from the Georgia heat, we had our annual Lake Party on Lake Lanier and enjoyed a taco bar for lunch. The No Excuses CrossFit community came together on Saturday, Aug. 25 for its annual in-house competition — the Hugo Open, now in its 5th year. The event drew 70 athletes, the largest ever, on 14 teams in one division.

September: We started the month off with the Annandale Village 5k race at Suwanee Town Park to help raise money for a great cause. Annandale Village has been training with us at No Excuses CrossFit twice a week for the last three years. No Excuses CrossFit members, Mauricio and Miriam invited everyone to their home for a pool party to try and beat the heat. An authentic taco bar was served with a great turn out from our members. We hosted a huge competition for the Atlanta Affiliate League Super-Team with 23 teams competing. Sponsors and vendors from the even included Voodoo Barbell, Taco Mac, Spider Chalk, Meatballerz, and 5.11 Tactical.

October: The No Excuses Halloween Party took place at Suwanee Station Clubhouse. We had authentic Mexican cuisine catered from Beto’s Tacos. The costume contest was close, with four separate categories where Jeff Hull took first place for the funniest costume while Mary Beth Krone and Joe won best couple’s costume. Erick Lopez won best male costume and Kanisha Bembridge won best female costume.

November: In the spirit of No Excuses, we got together to help out our community. The gym was able to provide Thanksgiving meals for 46 families in the area through North Gwinnett Co-Op. We also hosted Friendsgiving at George Pierce Park Community Center for the members. Instead of your typical Thanksgiving food, we enjoyed some dishes from everyone’s native country and hometown.

December: We ended the year by celebrating ten years as a CrossFit Affiliate with our annual Birthday Bash Fundraiser. Birthday Bash 10 was another success, with 16 teams competing and raising over $2,600 to provide Christmas gifts for 25 children and seniors in our community through the North Gwinnet Co-Op.

CrossFit Babies: Mindy and Ryan Black welcomed their son Hudson in May.
Lily and Jose also welcomed their son Gabriel in May.
Ashley and Kanity Seals welcomed a daughter in July.
Stacey and JT Odom welcomed their son Everett in September.

Spotlight Athletes: Greg Carefoot and Viviana Grisales, Jeff Whitlock and Lily Garcia, Abram Duke and Ashley Moyer, Vince Raia and Linda Retter, Peter Maxfield and Mackenzie Maynard, Tyler Jensen and Makena Lundin, Corey Brindle and Angela Duke, Justin Flowers and Sarah Montes, Jay Byrd and Ashley Williams, Addison Williams and Tina McAlpin, Tyler Botts and Kim Benson, Drew Brannon and Emily Stalling

 

No Excuses CrossFit by the Numbers:

66 – Age of our oldest member

55 – Percentage males that train at No Excuses CrossFit

45 – Percentage females that train at No Excuses CrossFit

38 – The average age of No Excuses CrossFit members (not including CrossFit Kids and CrossFit Teens)

23 – Number of couples that train at No Excuses CrossFit

17  – Number of countries represented by our membership including, United States, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Lebanon, Liberia, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, El Salvador, Slovakia, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, India, Vietnam and South Korea

11 – Number of mothers who have trained at No Excuses CrossFit while pregnant since 2014.Leslie Brigman, Stacey Odom, Vanessa Whitten, Jami Poore, Jennifer Shamloo, Jiyun Kim, Ashley Seals, Mindy Black. And we have four more training with us right now — Ashley Williams, Vanessa Whitten (again), Jessica Hoydar, and Mercedes Huarte-Brindle.

10 – Number of years No Excuses CrossFit has been affiliate, the longest in Gwinnett County.

9 – Number of years Greg Hayes and Leslie Brigman have been members of No Excuses CrossFit.

8 – Number of former members that have opened CrossFit gyms.

– Number of years Scot Poore, Robert Thornton, Mike Matthes, Matt Ziesmer, Bob Sawyer, Carl Cook, Chris and Tara Fischer have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.
(part 1) – Number of years Jeremy Edmondson, Angie Drexler, Kim Guthrie, Lisa Orlandella, Lori Parker, CJ Minniefield, Greg Carefoot, Glen and Nicole Wilkins have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.
(part 2) – Number of couples that have met their spouse at No Excuses CrossFit, including most recently Ethan Darcy and Victoria Robison, who married this summer.
– Number of years Bill Bozeman, Michelle Stovall, Stacey Odom, Ward Woody, Jami Poore, Dhillon Stankoh, Min Oh, Jeff Gaskins, Joe Carter, Bryan Bembridge, Barbara Parsons, Cris Burgum, Jon and Laura Owings have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.
– Number of years JT Odom, Judy Nam, Michelle Lomax, Adam Perillo, Jay Franks, Vanessa Whitten, Kanisha Bembridge, Lilly Villafuerte, Tyler Jensen, and Jenny Fancher have been members at No Excuses CrossFit.