CrossFit Oakland took the 08 Affiliate Cup with a dominant performance. What are they up to now, you ask? We sent Sevan and Carey to find out. They caught up with them on Saturday, Dec 20th, 2008 in the middle of an internal team competition. The workout was three teams of three athletes competing in a Linda-type workout. They're looking damn strong, too!

The Affiliate competition in 09 will be team workouts. What that means at this point is anyone's guess. We do know the majority of the competition will take place on the Friday before the individual competition, with only the top five teams going on to the Finals on Sunday morning.

Got anything to rival Oakland? Let us know. We'd love to post it here. Contact Tony for information about sending in video and photos.

Oakland Prepares for 09 Part 1 ... [wmv] [mov]

After his stellar 2:08 Fran, Bionic from CrossFit Hardcore has been cross training hard (he switched bikes for the picture).

Meanwhile, Omaha Ricky from CrossFit Omaha cranks out 100 burpees in 4:45 (he does 70 straight). It's hard to tell who's getting the greater benefit.

100 burpees video [wmv] [mov]

On the affiliate competition front, rumor has it that CrossFit Oakland is training hard to retain their status as top affiliate. Remember, the 09 Games will have a very different affiliate competition. There will be group workouts instead of accumulating the top performances of various athletes. Can you spell teamwork?

In case you missed it on the main site, we have a working trailer for the CrossFit Movie: Every Second Counts. The rough cut of the movie is done. There are still several important decisions to be made about additional post-production work. Depending on how those decisions get made, we could see a distributed version as early as Jan 09.

Sevan and Carey have done an amazing job, and the movie will be well worth the wait.

CrossFit Movie Working Trailer [wmv] [mov]

And, as a bonus for the Games site, we have an iPod/iPhone/iTunes version also. Clicking this link will launch iTunes. If you want it for your device, right click the link and download it to your hard drive.

iPod Trailer - [m4v]

Bionic (Omar Torres) from CrossFit Hardcore in Boca Raton, FL finished 11th overall in this year's Games. He's been training hard, and just set a big PR in Fran at 2:08 (28 seconds off his previous PR). His buddy happened to film it with his phone, so we get to watch a tiny Bionic getting some.

We've all seen so many Fran vids, why another? Because they're fun, that's why. And this may be the most legit sub 2:10 Fran vid I've seen. No ball and full ROM.

Postage-stamp size phone video ... [wmv] [mov]

2min 41sec

In this CrossFit Movie Outtake, Sevan encounters Tony Budding rechecking the 2008 Games Master Schedule at 2:30am on Saturday, July 5, 2008, just six and a half hours before the official start of the games.

Tony, Lynne Pitts, Thomas Crubaugh, and Dave Brewer went through all 300 participants by hand to confirm that each and every one had as close to a four-hour window as possible between start times for each of the three workouts. They had used a semi-automated Excel spreadsheet to generate the schedule, but several registration glitches (such as a formal name on the original registration and a common name on the workout order request) required a manual final check.

Saturday's schedule had to accommodate an unprecedented 900 workouts. Approximately 12 athletes competed simultaneously in each of the three workouts (thruster/pull-up, deadlift/burpee, and run) every 20min. That's about 100 athletes working out per hour. The first workout started at 9am and the final workout finished at 8pm. There were one-hour breaks at noon and 4pm.

Movie Outtake ... [wmv] [mov] 1min 40sec

In case you've missed them, the CrossFit Journal has several feature articles on Games competitors:

An Interview with Jason Khalipa: Part 1 and Part 2
Tanya Wagner is a Beast: Part 1 and Part 2
Coach Burgener Instructs Gillian Mounsey
My 2008 Games Experience by Kallista Pappas

And several have been featured on CrossFit Radio:

Josh Everett
Tanya Wagner
Caity Matter
Jolie Gentry
Jason Khalipa

On August 2nd, 2008 goCrossFit in Nashville, TN put on a Challenge. It was three workouts, two that were known, and one that was a surprise.

The first was 50 pull-ups for time.

The second was 5 rounds for time of:
15 Deadlifts
12 Hang power cleans
9 Front squats
6 Push jerks

The third WOD ended up being overhead farmer's walks sandwiching a run. Ouch!

Video ... [wmv] [mp4]

Caity Matter during Fran at her CrossFit Level 1 cert on April 13, 2008.

Here is the final part of the CrossFit Movie Outtake with Caity Matter, 2008 Games overall champion.

Caity talks about how CrossFit fills the hole that was created when she stopped playing pro basketball, and how her training with Bill Henniger from Rogue Fitness desensitized her from pain. There's also a guest appearance by Jason Khalipa.

Video ... [wmv] [mov] 2min 7sec

Jeff Tincher, a relative old man at the Games, surprised many by winning the 10:20 heat of Thrusters and Pull-ups with a time of 3:33, beating OPT by 18sec, Khalipa by 22sec, and Bionic by 42sec.

Tony Budding and Carey Peterson catch up with Jeff right after for a quick interview.

CrossFit Movie Outtake ... [wmv] [mov]

2min 5sec

Pictured: CrossFit Oakland's winning affiliate team at the 2008 Games.

The CrossFit Games 2009 Affiliate Cup Challenge will start early on Friday, July 10th, 2009. There will be 1-3 team workouts (format to be announced later). The top 5 teams from these days events will then move forward to the Affiliate Cup Finals on Sunday morning, July 12th (prior to the Men's and Women's Top CrossFitter Finals). The winning team on Sunday will then be the 2009 CrossFit Games Top Affiliate.

An Affiliate Team can consist of a minimum of four to a maximum of six. The team needs to have a minimum of two men and two women. You must actively train at the affiliate facility to be part of a team.

All the workouts will be conducted as team workouts with teams of four. Two men and two women will be competing at one time as a team. This will allow team captains or coaches to substitute members prior to an event based on team members' individual strengths and weaknesses.

Workouts and the scoring system for Friday will be announced the week of the event. The workout for Sunday's finals will be announced Saturday night.

Athletes who qualify for the men's and women's individual competition may also be included on an affiliate team. Just understand they will have three days of multiple grueling workouts, and will be competing against others who are only in one event.

We recommend having tryouts and competitions within your affiliate to determine your team of four to six athletes. But that is just a recommendation. All teams are welcome no matter the ability or level of competitor. Scaling will be available on Friday, though it will disqualify you for Sunday.

Registration for teams will be open from June 1-12, 2009, or when all spots fill up (the number of spots for affiliate teams is undetermined at this time). The team registration fee will be $200.

There will be a cash prize and the winner will also get to keep the Affiliate Cup in their gym for the year.

CrossFit Games 2007 Top Affiliate - CrossFit Santa Cruz
CrossFit Games 2008 Top Affiliate - CrossFit Oakland

In a CrossFit Movie Outtake, Sevan interviews James Fitzgerald (OPT) on Saturday morning (July 5, 2008) before the events launched. He talks about being responsible for his performance: Only he can determine how well he does.

And, at the same time, he speculates at how happy Josh Everett must be to have all three events in the 3min time domain, his strongest arena.

CrossFit Movie Outtake ... [wmv] [mov]

1min 21sec

This is an aerial photo of the 2008 Games, taken on Sunday morning, during the early heats of the clean & jerk workout. The run course looks flatter and easier from this angle.

In a CrossFit Movie outtake, Sevan continues his fascination with John Welbourn's clothing tastes... [wmv] [mov]

Here is the second part of the CrossFit Movie Outtake with Caity Matter, 2008 Games overall champion.

Caity talks about her love of training and competition, and how the clean is her best event (rumor has it that she has a 4:30 Man-Grace).

Video ... [wmv] [mov] 1min 30sec

Justin Riley, co-owner of CrossFit East Sacramento, competed in the Games this year (44th overall). Co-owner Travis Cassidy finished 28th. In this CrossFit Movie Outtake, Justin talks about his experience at the Games, how he started CrossFit, and his hopes (now realized) to open an affiliate.

Video ... [wmv] [mov]
5min 4sec

Caity Matter's name has been mis-spelled and mis-pronounced too many times. Presenting the 2008 CrossFit Games winner. Former WNBA player, Caity dominated Sunday's 100lb clean and jerk workout. She finished in 3:30, a full 44sec faster than 2nd place Tamara Holmes (who finished fourth overall).

Caity, 25, is highly competitive by nature, and has found that CrossFit workouts are a decent outlet for that since she left pro hoops.

Outtake video [wmv] [mov]