Here’s Everything You Needed to Know This Week

Good morning and welcome to the weekend edition of the Morning Chalk Up. This is Justin LoFranco, your Editor-in-Chief to bring you a quick wrap-up of the major news items throughout the week.

Today’s edition is fueled by Larabar.

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“When someone says you can’t do it, do it twice and take pictures.” — A hero on the Internet

By Eric Le, EPIC Provisions

I’ll never forget my first CrossFit Regional.

It was the California Regional in Del Mar, only hours away from the birthplace of CrossFit. So many of the top competitors were there, all of us fighting for a select number of coveted spots — the spots in consumer mouths and pantries.

Vendor Village at Regionals might not be as physically intense as the competition itself, but I still felt both exhilaration and overwhelm while working the EPIC Provisions booth amid the heat and sand.

As a passionate member of the CrossFit community even before my food marketing career, I was eager to show up in the best way possible. While I’m still uncertain as to whether or not the new Games format is a change for the better, it certainly gives brands like EPIC more opportunities to support the amazing CrossFit community — which is responsible for a significant amount of our success and growth over the years.

First, we can better support CrossFit at events. Events cost money, and that’s something brands are willing to give in exchange for the opportunity to get in front of eyes (and mouths!).

This new season format forces brands to consider longer-term partnerships with athletes, which are actually better for the brand, the athlete, and the community! Companies spend more time ensuring the chosen athletes really align with the brand values, and athletes have an opportunity to do the same.

The birth of “Sanctionals” provides twice as many opportunities for brands to engage with the community, and it allows us to do so throughout the year — rather than just during Regionals or the Games. It also provides us a larger pool of events to choose from, so that we can find the event that is most relevant to our audience (depending on location, size, sponsored athletes, etc.).

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This week Morning Chalk Up announced an official media partnership with Brazil CrossFit Championship, CrossFit French Throwdown and CrossFit Filthy150. Morning Chalk Up will be sending our team of reporters to cover these events on the ground, giving fans an all-access look at the competition.

in 2016, Ben Laekas was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Since then he’s undergone hospitalizations, been bedridden from chemotherapy treatments and completed high-dose radiation treatments. Yet Laekas has made it a point to continue going to CrossFit. “Going to CrossFit doesn’t provide an escape, but you don’t feel sick anymore. It changes your ideas,” Ben said in an interview.

After two scored events, out of five or six total, we made a quick snapshot of how 2018 CrossFit Games athletes are performing in the 2019 CrossFit Open. To help you digest this data, we pulled a few key findings and made a lot of really easy to read charts. 

Thanks to a new program through Orlando Health, athletes that use wheelchairs have a specialized class at South Orlando CrossFit. “They welcomed us as one of their own since we started,” said athlete C.J. Bellamy. “You know, they give us their respect, you know nobody disrespects us or talks nonsense about us.”

Morning Chalk Up broadcasted live from CrossFit Diablo in Pleasant Hill, CA for the 19.3 Open announcement. If you missed the coverage or need a refresher on all things 19.3, we’ve got you covered. 

We’ve crossed the midway point, people. 19.3 is here and it’s gymnasty. Here are six things to get you through the weekend and going upside down. 

1. 19.3 is Jacob Heppner’s jam.

2. If 19.3 surprised you because we had no hints from Dave Castro, here is Armen Hammer’s take on the situation.

3. But also, it wouldn’t have surprised you if you were following along with our 2019 Open Movements Tracker. 

4. Don’t forget to eat to fuel through the Open and what better way to do that than with chocolate chip pancake protein balls, which apparently 3,376 of you plan to make this weekend. (Send us some!)

5. Speaking of cake, Brooke Wells took one to the face.

6. As you look forward to next week, be present and productive as you prepare for 19.4.