What a fun event this one was!
And it’s funny to think that my first event of the year was a crossfit competition rather than a running event.
This event immediately caught my attention because of its parameters. It was going to be a team WOD that was being hosted at my home box IMT Crossfit; but what made this event different was 1) you had no idea what the WODs would be till the day of the event & 2) you had no idea who your teammates would be either?!
I thought this automatically turned the tables on any other event because you could either be on a stacked team, or you could just be on a team that sucked; it was all luck.
And who are the mad men that were able to come up with such an idea? That my friends would be a couple of boys who hail from New York and started Team Dangerous as a small group of CrossFitters regularly training at Crossfit NYC: The Black Box. It didn’t take long for them to realize that they had more in common than getting strong, carving their beach bodies and getting fit as social get togethers became a regular post-workout activity. As the group of like-minded people grew, so did their gatherings. Soon the gatherings turned into events. And at their first official Team Dangerous event, the 2013 Civilian Military Combine obstacle race, Team Dangerous showed up in full force, representing 20% of all participants in the race. Since then TD has taken the fitness community by storm with their passion for fitness, fun and giving back. Team Dangerous became officially incorporated in August 2013.
Team Dangerous brings its members together from different locations through organized fitness, social and charitable events. Their approach; Work hard. Play hard. Give back is aimed to take members outside of their comfort zone. Members share three common attributes: a love for all things fitness, an appreciation for meeting new people, and a desire to give back to the community. Team Dangerous breaks down the barriers of micro-communities and exposes all individuals to a greater diversified community that accepts people for who they are. We are not a clique but an anti-clique. Together we ARE the Team Dangerous community.
TD creates events in a variety of shapes and sizes. Fitness events are for all ability levels with a focus on safety, organization, uniqueness, and a fun social environment. Social events are aimed at connecting our members in a comfortable atmosphere where they can meet new people or reconnect with members from previous events. Charitable events range from asking our members to volunteer their time, donate goods or raise money as part of a TD fitness or social event.
Luckily for us, the TD event that came down here to Miami were a mixture of all 3. It brought multiple boxes together the day of the event to compete in a random team WOD with three different events. And the money raised that day went to the National Childhood Obesity Foundation and all donations raised were matched 100% by Team Dangerous!
So now on to the actual event.
What was funny was the fact that we all had a little warm up before the event had even started. We were told to introduce ourselves to someone we didn’t know of the same sex, and they would be our partner for the warm up. Little did we know was the fact that the partner we had warmed up with would actually be our partner in the first WOD.
WOD 1: Chipper
50 box jumps
40 push ups
30 thrusters
20 burpees
10 hang snatches
My partner and I killed it in about 4:45, but there were others that did a lot better. I believe the best of the day was about 3:58. After about a short 5 min break, we went straight into WOD 2.
Now before we had started this WOD, they matched a female team to a male team and we now became a 4 person team.
WOD 2: 8 min AMRAP where you would first complete a 30m sprint relay, then after all four team members had crossed the line, you would go into 20 sit ups at the same time with linked arms and then transition into 30 air squats and start all over again.
This time around my team and I managed to complete 5 rounds and the relay and sit ups on the sixth.
I remember after one of the air squats rounds I ran first and when I turned around and came back to tag my next partner to run I couldn’t stop. I almost jumped the vendors that were there so I didn’t crash into anything.
Then after that was over we had a little longer of a break this time around. After signing in the day of the event, they handed you a raffle ticket for the vendors that were there. I put mine in my bag and completely forgot about it. They had told us to grab our tickets and meet in the center of the box for the raffle. Of course when I was going through my mess of a bag I couldn’t find it. And I turned to a friend of mine that was sitting on the bench with me and I told her “Watch, I never win anything, but now that I can’t find my ticket, they’re going to call my number.”
And what do you think happened? They called out the first ticket and no one answered. I was like “Crap!” I ran back to my bag and was able to find it and I won a free box of Shanti Bars!!! Freaking delicious.
Then it was finally time for our last WOD.
WOD 3: After again joining another team to your own (now you have 8 members on your team) you went to a four stage WOD where 2 team members were at a stage and had a total of 2 minutes work time and 30 sec. rest.
The first stage was wall balls. There was a rack that they put to it’s max height and you had to squat with a med ball and clear the PVC pipe on the rack as you’re passing it to your partner. The next stage was a prowler push press across the box with 90 lbs on it. The stage after that was while one partner was completing hang cleans, the other partner would hold their bar at the hang position. And the final stage was rowing! While one partner was rowing, the other would have to hold a front plank. And if your partner was unable to continue the plank hold, you would quickly switch positions till the two minutes were done.
What was funny about the last WOD was the fact that the only stage that really mattered was the rowing stage and what would determine the winner was the amount of calories burned after each two person team (of your group of 8) had gone through the rowing portion.
My team won that one!!!
But really, there were no winners or losers at this event. It was just a social gathering of like minded people who got together on a Saturday to do some WODs together while raising money for a good cause.
Had a hell of a time and I can’t wait to get to another one of these events!
If you want to find out some more information about Team Dangerous you can check them out on their website and see if any events or gatherings are coming near you!
Samurai Piggy 