The Year of the Dumbbell - in true CrossFit fashion the 2017 Open was no stranger to mixing things up. There were a ton of firsts this year...dumbbell snatching, burpee box jump overs, dumbbell lunges, dumbbell power cleans (aka deadlift hammer curls), as well as a bunch of the classics - pull-ups, toes to bar, wall ball, double unders, snatching, rowing, deadlifting, etc...There were quick sprints and long grinds, and if nothing else they definitively tested for a broad range of fitness.

Workouts and the CrossFit HQ are great and all but what I always find myself reflecting on the most is the performances of our community. To help keep things organized I'm using my favorite things, bullet points, and alphabetical arrangements. I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

Abby - I'm so glad you did the Open this year and it was awesome to see you take on 17.4 Rx! You've made tremendous amounts of progress and you should be incredibly proud of yourself!
Aisling - from now on whenever I think of 17.3 I will think of your (second) performance. You literally gave everything you had for that workout and it was amazing to witness.
Alan - for a person who started CrossFit in January you absolutely killed the Open. You gave me a run for my money on a few of the workouts and I'm excited to see how you'll do next year after getting a bit more time under your belt.
Ang - you are amazing, and you just keep doing it...18th in the Northeast, and 134th Worldwide! It looks like we might have a few more workouts a head of us (if you want to).
Annette - I know this has been a tough year for you to find your groove working out and you were on the fence about whether or not to sign up. I'm glad you signed up and while I know they were hard workouts it was incredibly motivating watching you complete them.
Annie - #34 in the Northeast for Teenage Girls 16-17 and one spot behind 'Dad' on the gym leader-board. It looks like we might have a little family rivalry going on.
Becky - I'm not sure I know a person who has more fight in them. These were tough workouts this year and I don't think I heard a single complaint the entire time. I know the Open was a tough decision, I'm glad you stuck through it.
Brad - thank you for being part of Team Strongtown. I know work has been hectic recently and we haven't seen around the gym as much as we have in the past, it's been great having you around these past 5 weeks.
Brian G. - if 17.3 was Aisling's workout then 17.2 is yours. After walking away defeated on your first attempt it was great seeing your dedication and commitment to come back in and get your bar muscle-ups.
Brian M. - thank you for all the Thursday night beers and help judging this year, you might now be known as 'the guy who broke a barbell'...I've honestly tried for years without any luck and you did it so effortlessly on 17.5.
Carl - Not many people can say that they have 6 years in the Open. You're a true veteran of the sport and of our community. Regardless of any injuries or how much you have (or haven't) been working out you always have the most positive attitude going into things.
Chris - your help throughout the past 5 weeks was not overlooked. You were always willing to help Judge workouts, set things up beforehand, and clean things up after. Thank you for everything!
Courtney - the progress you have made over the past few years is absolutely amazing. When I think of where you started (SwimWOD at Edgewood) to where you are now it's mind boggling. 17.5 was a bear of a workout and not only did you finish it you did it Rx'd too!
Dan - great job beating Mikey on 17.3...you totally showed him how it's done.
Dani - you exude positivity, encouragement, and support. Your chest to bar pull-ups in 17.3 were some of the strongest I've seen. You take any & every challenge head on and we are going to get you double unders this year.
Dave A. - judging you on 17.1 was one of the most impressive workouts I had the opportunity to Judge this Open. You absolutely motored through it and didn't take a single break through any of the 150 dumbbell snatches.
David K. - way to set the example for Abby, you put your all towards every workout and are always willing to lend a helping hand. Thank you for all your judging this year and I will be petitioning CrossFit regarding their 'backwards' double under clause.
Deb - 62 years young and still has strict pull-ups. You have a motor that is both running strong and doesn't want to quit. Watching you get those pull-ups on 17.3 was awesome.
Doc - I've never met anyone who genuinely has as much fun working out as you do. You actually had 2 performances that really stood out to me this year...finishing 17.1 and getting 170 reps on 17.4. I'm not sure which is more impressive.
GereLu - the superstar performance of the Strongtown...72 years young and taking on the Open for the first time. We're super proud of you Mom! Fair warning that Mikey said he has never seen you throw the wall ball as high as you did on 17.4 so you may have a new standard.
Heidi - this year's repeat was your workout. Last year was your rookie year and you had the pleasure of repeating 16.4 as 17.4 this year. To go from scaling the workout to taking it on as Rx'd in a year is tremendous and should not be overlooked.
Holly - your performance on 17.4 was amazing. As a reference I got off the deadlifts about a minute to minute and a half before you....you then opened up your set of 55 with 30 wall ball and finished over a minute before me.
Ink - also on 17.4, you were one of only a handful of people from our gym to not only make it to the wall but also get into the handstand push-ups. After a slow opening on the 55 deadlifts you made up a ton of time on the wall ball and row.
Jay - 2nd year in the Open, you were smart with your scaling and have by far the best entries for Judge's names...my personal favorite being "The Doc" followed by "Mr. Matt".
Jeff Funk - last year 16.4 was your workout...while I would assume the retest would your workout again I was wrong, this year it was 17.2 and the bar muscle-ups...you beat me by 1 rep.
Jen - after seeing your chest to bar pull-ups in 17.3 I am absolutely baffled as to why you don't have bar muscle-ups.
Joe - you approach every workout with a 'can do' attitude which is completely refreshing, with 27 reps into the hand release push-ups 17.4 was your standout workout.
Jordan - it's a tough one but not really - making it halfway through the 3rd barbell on 17.3 you snatched 135# more then most guys who signed up for the Open.
Kevin - if there was a rookie of the year award you would be taking it home with 3rd place overall in the gym. Watching you miraculously master the bar muscle-ups in 17.2 is what makes the Open so great.
Kim - you were part of our 'first timer' class this year and did amazing job. I love seeing that even though you weren't always able to do the workouts at Strongtown that you still managed to get them done.
Liam - did not miss a single Thursday night post-announcement workout! Everyone else had the luxury of knowing the workout in advance, Liam genuinely went in blind every week.
Liz - even after a brief hiatus, still coming back strong...and now doing some very impressive butterfly pull-ups. You also took on 17.4 in full St. Patrick's day attire which is impressive.
Lou - the first two open workouts this year were your wheelhouse, I aspire to one day have bar muscle-ups that look like yours.
Lu - you genuinely seemed to improve every week after week leading up to the final workout, which you killed.
MaryBeth - we joked briefly that I was watching you do 17.5 while judging your husband and was thinking how slow your thrusters were looking...that was until I saw you put up the fastest time of the day by over 2 minutes.
Matt C. - after 5 weeks you and I are closing out the Open in a tie for 15th place in the gym. Seeing you get 6 handstand push-ups before the 13 minute mark after getting off the rower at 12:17 was awesome.
Matty M. - it has been great having you and the entire Mauro crew around the gym, I know Read isn't always happy about working out but he'll warm up to it soon. I'm glad you signed up and were able to squeeze in 17.5 before the deadline.
Mikey - thank you for reviewing all the workouts, maybe try to work on pacing a bit more and do less reps next year.
Pat - congratulations I believe this officially marks 6 years of a hate / love / hate relationship with Open. Next year will be fun, I promise.
Paula - for as long as you've been coming to Strongtown I find it hard to believe this was your 1st Open. You did an absolutely amazing job this year and I appreciate all your help Judging through the weeks.
Rachie - you have put in a ton of work this past year and I loved watching you literally attack the workouts. I believe you had the top gym score on 16.4 and 17.4 was nothing but a repeat performance
Rachel C. - after you asked me to kill you (multiple times) during the row on 17.4 I think we can agree that wasn't your workout this year. It's actually your 17.1 performance that sticks out the most to me, you gave it everything you had to finish those 50 snatches and get into the final burpees.
Rachel McG. - you're the model for consistency and hard work paying off, you're one of the few people who genuinely seemed to get stronger each week leading up to the final workout. You were also a tremendous help with Judging this year - thank you.
Rob B. - you have an incredible attitude with every workout, great taste in beer, and took on 17.4 dressed like a leprechaun. All of those are great things.
Rob G. - having the pleasure of Judging your 17.5 and then doing the workout myself I have to say both you and MB absolutely killed this one.
RLB - although this wasn't your first year signed up for the Open I'm technically counting it as your first, I'm very happy you signed up this year and glad you were able to get through the workouts...setting 2 top 10 scores (ok maybe 11th) with your 17.2 and 17.3 performances.
Scott C. - another 'first timer' in the Open, we do a lot of double unders at Strongtown and based on 17.5 it looks like you did an awesome job of representing.
Shady - you're performance on 17.1 is still something that I have a had time wrapping my mind around. You set a pace, kept to it and came in 4 seconds shy of the cap...very impressive.
Sophia - I'm between two performance moments for you, the first would be your 17.5 score, it was top 3 in the gym and you crushed it. The other would be 17.3 and getting that 1 snatch at 95# after I don't know how many attempts.
Stacy - one of the highlights of the Open for me this year was getting to see how much you improved on 17.4 this year. Last year you got 43 wall ball, this year got through the wall ball plus 33 calories on the rower.
Tammy - as soon as I saw the burpees in 17.1 I knew you were going to kill the workout. Hope you're not going to stir crazy and we'll see you soon.
Tanner - couple of items 1) amazing job on 17.2, your score was 9th overall in the gym, and 2) thank you for all you help Judging each week, there were some weeks where you literally walked into the gym and we threw you on the floor and never heard a single complaint. Thank you.
Tots - I also have 2 notable moments for you as well. The squat snatching and 17.3 was awesome, getting 95# at that point of the workout was huge. The other moment, which I think sticks out more, is the finish to 17.1...pushing through the burpee box jump overs is like trying to jump out of a pool and you did an amazing job closing out your final 15.
Timmy - I'm sorry this was not your year, you made the right call on not pushing things.
Tommy - after seeing your bar muscle-ups last year I wasn't sure if you would be able to do it again...I was glad to see you keep the title of craziest Open muscle-ups after 17.2.
Toon - another one done, lawn chairs officially became strategy after you did 17.5