VALIANT’S local athletes took London’s Turf Games Summer Festival by storm, performing well to top the Everyday Mixed Sixes category.
Andy Whelan, Asa Le Fustec, Ben Gurney, Jay Hosty, Josh Clayson, Rebecca Boyle, Chesca Dubras, Petra Ariana, Taye Boakye-Yiadom and Laura Turpin made the trip, performing incredibly well.
Topping their mixed category was no small feat, as 185 teams competed on the day.
“Doing this event was honestly so fun, especially doing this through Valiant, as everyone is so close and friendly,” said Boakye-Yiadom.
“This year’s Turf Games were the biggest ever, so having a team from Jersey perform well in a big tournament like that is special.”
Preparations in the build-up couldn’t have gone better, as Boake-Yiadom said how everyone “grew closer” during training, aiding their competitive efforts.
But, for all the training in the world, there are still factors that cannot be controlled, as Valiant’s athletes discovered. Conditions proved challenging, with intense heat, of up to 33°C, making workouts all the more gruelling.
Saturday started the action, as Valiant Valhalla’s Whelan, Gurney, Boake-Yiadom, Dubras, Clayson and Turpin competed in the Everyday Mixed 6s division, with great success. It was a strong start for the Jersey outfit, taking on the 15-minute time-capped MANOR workout.
Contestants, male/female, had to complete 60 barbell shoulder to overhead at 40/25 kg (synchro), four sandbag to shoulder at 40/25kg each (waterfall style) and 10 synchro sandbag carry lengths at 40/20kg.
Then, two people had to perform 50 barbell shoulder to overhead (synchro), four sandbag to shoulder each in waterfall style, and another ten synchro sandbag carry lengths.
To cap off the opening act, two athletes did another 40 barbell to shoulder overhead (synchro), a 16-metre synchro sandbag carry in waterfall style, to then sprint over the finish line.
Completing that in the intense heat must have been tough, but Valiant did themselves more than proud, ranking tied-third with a score of six minutes, 15 seconds.
They put themselves in good stead, going into the ONE LDN segment of the contest. Teams had to split into sub-groups of three, with the first team carrying out a 20m kettlebell (KB) carry per athlete (ten metres down and back), a 10m burpee broad jump (waterfall style) and then a 200m run (as a sub team).
Meanwhile, sub-team 2 were on the Concept 2 rower, giving their all to row their maximum distance.
When Team 1 returned from the run, both sub-groups would then swap over. The score was determined by rower max distance + rounds complete x 200m.
Teams were credited with 200m to their row distance, after each sub team completed the KB carries, 10m burpee jumps and the last athlete crossed the line.
Valiant Valhalla kept up performances, securing an impressive score of 5834m to rank fourth. The team was once again split into sub-groups of three for the SLEVEN workout, where each had windows of 2min 30secs to accrue as many reps/cals as possible.
Team one were tasked with completing 10×10 shuttle runs, 2x10m walking lunges (while linking arms) and 12 dumbbell (DB) snatches, all synchro. With any remaining time, they had to complete as many burpees as possible over the line.
Team two took to the Concept 2 BikeErg, trying to burn through the maximum cals in the window. Burpees over the line added to the cals on bike, culminating in the teams’ scores.
Valiant Valhalla dominated this section with a score of 507 reps, 11 more than the next best team.
After such strong outings, a challenging finale lay ahead, with the TALISMAN A (ski) and B (chipper) workouts running concurrently alongside each other.
TALISMAN A consisted of a 3,750m ski erg for time, whereas TALISMAN B had a 15-minute time cap, including 10-20-30-40-50 synchro DB hang clean and press (three athletes), then 15-15-15-15-15 synchro box overs at 20in (three athletes).
Scores for both were added up for time, and Valiant Valhalla were consistent, placing second in both A and B, scoring 11mins 22secs and 07mins 53secs respectively.
After all scores were added up, Valiant were rewarded for their exceptional efforts, toppling the lot to be crowned Everyday Mixed 6s champions.
As well as a Jersey team standing out on the big stage, something else made this triumph sweet, according to Boakye-Yiadom: “What made it even more special was our team’s diversity, with the youngest athlete being 28 and our oldest is 58.
“Between us, we have full-time jobs, families – three have kids – and completely different backgrounds, yet we’ve all found common ground through fitness. Valiant’s community is such a close-knit community, where everyone comes together, supporting each other to push themselves while having a laugh along the way.”
“At Valiant, we want to share the message that it’s never too late to start. Fitness, whether it’s CrossFit, HYROX or hybrid training can be fun and inclusive for everyone, no matter your age, shape or starting point.”
The next day brought the men’s and women’s fives, bringing more stellar performances out of the local athletes. Confidence would have surely been boosted from each carrying out the same workouts, after their victorious performance the day before.
There was success in the Men’s 5s to place 13th, but the women’s team made a huge achievement, shattering their top-30 target to rank 17th among the 137 squads, marking a great improvement since last year’s ranking of 42.
If you’d like to get involved with Valiant, visit crossfitvaliant.je.
