They May Take Our Lives, But They'll Never Take Our FREEDOM

We clothed ourselves in plaid skirts, painted our faces, and drenched our hands in the sweet ivory of chalk. Our minds were as sharp as metal and our veins were as cold as ice. It was all for the glory.

This past weekend team Endunamoo competed in our very first highlanders games. I personally reign from Scottish decent, and if I didn’t compete in these games I would have been spitting on my ancestors graves. I could only imagine the wails of their bagpipes as they awaited my decision – So I chose yes, and so did the rest of my clansmen.

Normally we participate in competitions that focus on a single plane of motion – up, down, good lift – but this time would be very different. We threw things, we carried things, we hoisted things, and we spun around in circles flinging things. Just imagine all of the hairy-grown men twirling around as their kilts fluttered up revealing some of the pastiest legs known to man, all to throw a 25 pound stone attached to a chain. Needless to say we had a blast.

There were 6 events: Throw for height with either a 45 or 56 lb stone, axel clean and press for max, yoke walk and sled pull, 15 lb hammer throw, throw for distance with a 25 lb stone, 60 second atlas stone for reps with either a 145 lb or 217 pound stone.

We recently incorporated a lot more power exercises such as the clean and snatch, which contributed to us performing very well early on. We dominated the throw for height and axel clean and press events. It was practically child’s play for us, as long as we don’t count the other competitors who put up a great fight and made it difficult. Ya, if we don’t count them it was child’s play. As the events became more complicated than what we were used to our “dominance” started to fade. However, we didn’t pull up our skirts and run. Not even a little.

By the end of the day we all finished with some great scores, a few scrapes and bruises, and a plethora of new friends – even though some of them were crossfit junkies.Sorry Henry, Johnny, and Jerry it's the truth.

But the smell of grown men sweating like their Scottish ancestors wasn’t even the best part of the entire thing – this event had a purpose. All of the proceeds went to benefit a former strong man who is now suffering from Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP); a disease where tendons and ligaments calcify and turn to bone.

How could we not enjoy the beating sun turning our pale skin into lobster-shells when we knew that someone who needed help was getting it. Besides, that’s what doing something like this is all about. Finding a community to be a part of, helping each other out, and of course the obvious lifting copious amounts of gravity retaining weight.

So yes, this competition was awkward – some would even say dangerous – but the benefit to cost ratio was well worth it. It may have risked our lives, but it opened us up to a new world of FREEDOM!