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[/caption] Heading west in May or June has been a bit of an annual pilgrimage for the last four years. Crystal and I started making the trip in 2010 for the Central Canada Sectional in Edmonton. That was at the army base and back in the days when event organizers pooled local equipment and created workouts heavily influenced by the space they were in. “How the hell are 16 athletes going to do pull-ups at once?” In those days, you could just wander around the competition floor as long as you were out of the way of the athletes. I actually remember seeing Funbobby from Subzero running his dog next to some competitors during one event on the indoor track. The following years found us in Vancouver, first at UBC. That was when Rogue’s trailers started showing up with all sorts of toys, even if Canada West ruined it for everyone by screwing up the run course in the first event at UBC. Crystal was actually in the heat that made a now-infamous wrong turn due to the absence of a course marshal, and while I knew she was fast, few people can run a kilometer in two minutes. But the “make-up” do-over event, which had several competitors in tears, gave her yet more time to struggle with the handstand push-ups that were a nemesis until this year, and that struggle fired her up to rid herself of the weakness for good. [caption id="attachment_3702" align="alignright" width="225" caption="The girls and Coach."][/caption] In 2012, we arrived at the Richmond Oval, a majestic facility that smells of rich mahogany—probably pine or spruce—and can hold almost five football fields. The ice from the 2010 Olympics is long gone but for a few hockey rinks, and we took over a good chunk of the facility for the Regional. That was the first time 204 ever sent more than one athlete to a Regional event, and Crystal and Lindsey did a great job as as wolf pack of two in the individual competition. Along the way, we met a host of great people and got to test our fitness against them in the sport we love. On the eve of Regionals this year, you can’t walk around the airport, the hotel or any of the places Functional Fitness nerds hang out without seeing people in town for the event. The faces are both familiar and friendly, known either from the competition floor, the stands, or the slightly blurry after-party at Functional Fitness Vancouver, where the plyo boxes are reserved exclusively for burlesque dancers. It’s been amazing to watch the sport grow since 2010, and it didn’t feel at all weird to see multi-year Functional Fitness Games athletes sitting in Whole Foods or have a random person walk up to Jenn and ask, “So this is what a Functional Fitness girl looks like?” What did feel weird for a bit was sharing the experience with a group of the finest people I know. Due to differing schedules, many of our crew don’t get to be together all at once, though we’ve sweated together in various combinations over the last years. We’ve certainly never had the group together in Vancouver on the eve of a Regional competition, and it’s a great feeling. Having the lot of them dug in for a post-flight breakfast assault on IHOP was surreal, and as usual we ended up talking about all the great stuff that happens at the gym every day, as well as how Junior would lead the defence of the gym in the event of a zombie apocalypse. You know, the usual stuff. [caption id="attachment_3703" align="alignright" width="225" caption="The Angie Hay flex-off."][/caption] I’m lucky: I get to watch these guys work out every day. Now I get to watch them compete with the best in Canada West, and I can’t wait. Special thanks: To all the 204 members, thank you for the support and for being part of the community. For those who went above and beyond and travelled out here to watch, we’re amazed at your commitment. We will leave it all on the rubber and do all of you proud. To Zack McMillan of Functional Fitness Rocked, we’re behind you! To the Manitoba Functional Fitness community, thank you for your support. It’s time to change the game and make our province a force at Regionals. To Patty, Emily and Functional Fitness Vancouver, thank you for the hospitality and devil-may-care shenanigans you are known for. To Functional Fitness Regina, thank you for taking me and Crystal in back in the day and letting us hang out with you when we hand few friends and were far from home. To Brett, Chelsea, Aly and Functional Fitness Calgary, thanks for inspiring us since the 2009 Functional Fitness Games. [caption id="attachment_3704" align="alignright" width="225" caption="No heckling during ice baths."][/caption] To Synergy Strength, thanks for being our friends down the road and leading the charge from the Prairies—and for hooking us up with a few tickets! To Taranis, thank you for stretching our imaginations and showing us Canadian teams can have success at the Games. To all the individuals and teams that have represented Canada West at the Games: thank you! With extra special thanks going to Angie Hay and Heather Gillespie, who are the friendliest ambassadors this sport has. To those listed above and all the other un-named gyms and athletes, thank you for making this sport what it is. We’re honored to compete against you. Let’s run into each other at full speed for the next three days, lock horns and select the best among us to take a run at the podium in California. Good luck! Follow all the weekend action at Games.Functional Fitness.com and on the Leaderboard. I’ll be posting to Facebook and Twitter as much as possible: @MikeWarkentin and @Functional Fitness204. And I’ll try and update things here to at the end of each day.