Wes Piatt sat alone under the bleachers. He was preparing himself for the impending disappointment that he was sure would come.
His mind was racing a million miles a minute. Would he take third place and advance to the Reebok CrossFit Games? Or would he finish fourth and head home?
Then he heard it — the name of his competitor announced over the loudspeaker and fans going crazy. Piatt took a deep breath and began to gather his things to head back to his team tent. Just then Dave Castro, the director of the Games, came up to Piatt with shocking news — he placed third and qualified.
“It was one of those moments — you can’t even describe it,” Piatt said. “It’s like winning the lottery. I was at the lowest of my lows and within an instant I was at the highest of my highs. It was crazy.”
Piatt’s third place finish in the Southern California Regional on May 19 meant that he was headed to the big show. He will compete for $250,000 and the title of Fittest on Earth in the 2013 Reebook CrossFit Games taking place July 26-28 in Carson.
The road to the games is one that Piatt has paved with sweat, blood and tears.
Four years ago, Piatt was just being introduced to CrossFit while deployed in Kuwait with the Air Force. He thought he’d be one and done after trying a workout called the “Filthy 50’”(50 of the following: box jumps, jumping pull-ups, kettlebell swings, walking lunges, knees to elbows, push presses, back extensions, wall ball shots, burpees, double unders).
He didn’t finish, it made him physically ill and he thought that would be the extent of his CrossFit experience. But friendly trash talk from an Army member pushed him to keep going.
Last year, he just missed out on his shot at the regional competition. The top 60 men and women advanced from the open tryouts to regionals — he was 62nd.
“That was what I needed to sort of be like ‘Hey, stop screwing around. If you want this to be a reality, you have to stop going out on the weekends and dial in your nutrition’,” the 27-year-old firefighter said. “I took it really serious over the last year and made no excuses.”
This year, his aim was much higher. Instead of just making it to regionals, Piatt wanted to finish in the top 20. The next step would be to start preparing to qualify for the CrossFit Games. He never imagined he would bypass that step and be on his way to the games this year.
“I did an interview with CrossFit and they asked what are my goals going into regionals? I told them I was going to make the top 10,” Piatt said. “I was like if ‘I’m top 10 I’m going to be super excited.’ I told them I’m not expecting to go the games this year, maybe next year.”
CrossFit is more than just a personal passion for Piatt, it’s something that he aims to share with everyone. He and his wife Megan, along with friends Steven and Christine Clet, have collaborated on making that dream a reality, opening Coast Range CrossFit in the Gilroy Health and Fitness Complex on Monday.
Wes and Steven started joking about opening a CrossFit gym just six short months ago. With the help of Steven’s family, the gym was converted from bare bones into a CrossFit mecca.
“It’s happened so fast. I still don’t think it’s really hit me,” Steven said. “We were like ‘Wow, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.’ It blows my mind how fast and how easily it’s happened.”
Steven, a 29-year-old firefighter, was never one to buy into the CrossFit hype. He said his philosophy on fitness was always that triathalon training was the best way to stay in shape.
“It wasn’t until I started doing CrossFit that I realized how out of shape I was,” he said. “I was great at running, biking and swimming. But by the time they tell you to pick something up off the ground it’s like ‘Nope, not going to happen.’ It’s a whole different level of in shape.”
The most incredible thing about CrossFit, Steven said, was the fact that anyone can do it. There’s no discrimination in terms of age, gender or skill level and he loves watching other’s transformations.
“We want everybody and anybody who’s interested in making a change in their life,” Steven said. “CrossFit, at it’s base, is about doing the movements humans were made to do and doing them correctly. Over time we make you stronger and you don’t start to degrade like you see elderly people do, falling down, breaking hips. Anyone from eight to 80 is welcome to sign up.”
On top of opening the gym, Wes and his wife relocated from San Luis Obispo and he graduated his rookie fire fighter program all while training for the games.
He’s been either running, swimming or rowing in the mornings and following that with strength training exercises. In the evening, he’s continued his training with at least two CrossFit exercises.
“It’s intimidating,” he said. “These people I’ve looked up to for the past four years are the ones I’ll be competing against. It’s like a kid growing up watching Barry Sanders play football and then all of a sudden you’re playing next to him. We’ll see what happens.”
