23 men showed up to compete in the first ever Battle of the Neighborhoods. The showdown featured the three neighborhoods that surround the Mighty Oak: Birkdale vs. MacAulay vs. Wynfield. Anyone who showed up and does not live in one of these neighborhoods was a free agent and could compete for a team of their choosing. There were 6 events, scoring in each event was as follows: 1st place = 30 points, 2nd place = 20 points, 3rd place = 10 points. Team with the most number of points at the end of all events is declared the winner.
Here is how it went down:
As the pax started pouring in, it seemed BamBam might steer MacAulay to an easy victory. Team MacAulay stood 8 strong. Odds were looking bleak for the Birkdale 5 and the Wynfield 5. But seconds before the start Wynfield claimed three free agents, bringing their squad to 8. As the warmup got under way Smash suddenly appeared from out of the mist, eager to defend Birkdale's honor. After adding a free agent as well, Birkdale suddenly had a chance with 7.
A typical disclaimer was given and short warm up was completed, but not before we all had the chance to admire Travolta's form on the toy soldier. The man is flexible.
Then it was on to the main event: (As I was competing for team Birkdale I was unable to capture all that went on within all the individual teams. Sound off in the notes below if you have any side commentary or noticeable feats of strength to add.)
EVENT 1: AMRAP Bam Bams
Break up into teams and do as many Bam Bams as possible. Must count out loud for the rep to count. Each team adds up the number of individual reps completed by team members for a total team rep number.
Winner: Wynfield. 2nd: MacAulay 3rd: Birkdale. Wyn = 30, Mac = 20, Bir = 10
Observations: Complaints were uttered about this event being thrown in with the warm up exercises. Too bad. Gypsy built up to and completed 11 full reps of the BamBam. Not sure who was the standout on the other teams, but I had yet to see someone work through a full 11. Strong work
EVENT 2: 1 min AMRAP Monkey Humpers
Do as many monkey humpers as you can in a minute. Each team adds up the number of individual reps completed by team members for a total team rep number.
Winner: Wynfield. 2nd: MacAulay 3rd: Birkdale. Totals: Wyn = 60, Mac = 40, Bir = 20
Observations: One minute feels like forever when you are monkey humping. That hurt
Loooong mosey over to Travolta Hill
EVENT 3: Quadrafilia up Travolta Hill, sprint down
Partner up into groups of two within your team. Partner 1 starts running backward up the hill while Partner 2 runs alongside. When Partner 1 starts to slow down they switch and continue this way until reaching the top. One partner must always be running backward. Once you reach the top both partners sprint back down to the bottom. First team to have all members assembled at the bottom of the hill wins.
Winner: Birkdale 2nd: MacAulay 3rd: Wynfield. Totals: Wyn = 70, Mac = 60, Bir = 50
Observations: It took awhile to get to Travolta Hill, but it was well worth the wait as Birkdale finally got on the board. This event was a not so subtle effort to try to take some wind out of the Cydesdales before the heavy lifting started.
Mosey back to Mighty Oak cinder blocks. As we were jogging back Atlas picked me and and started to partner carry me back. I had to tell him easy young fella that event is still to come.
EVENT 4: Cinder Block Zamperini
Each team had to move 8 cinder blocks to the other side of the parking lot and back. Blocks must be carried over head. First team to move all blocks over and back wins.
Winner: Wynfield. 2nd: Birkdale. 3rd: MacAulay Totals: Wyn = 100, Mac = 70, Bir = 70
EVENT 5: Partner Carry
Partner up within your team. Partners take turns carrying each other across the parking lot and back. One of the partners must be carried at all times. First team with all sets of parking back and assembled at the starting point wins.
Winner: MacAulay 2nd: Birkdale. 3rd: Wynfield. Wyn = 110, Mac = 100 Bir = 90
Observations: And MacAulay is on the board. Brown Bag who was fighting through sickness coming into the event, gave his all for the team, hauling Flo through the back stetch of the lot and into a first place finish. But it came at a cost as the effort and illness combined for an unsavory result and he was unable to continue with the next event.. IF Merlot was spilled, YHC did not witness it firsthand
EVENT 6: 1 min AMRAP Full Curls with Cinder blocks
Do as full cinder block curls as you can in a minute. Each team adds up the number of individual reps completed by team members for a total team rep number.
Winner: Wynfield 2nd: Birkdale. 3rd: MacAulay Totals: Wyn = 140, Mac = 110, Bir = 110
Observations: Atlas lobbied to change the event but was shot down. This was likely the easiest of the events and was more or less a show of who can count reps the fastest. So naturally Scrappy's team won.
OVERALL RESULTS
WINNER: Wynfield with 140 points
FIRST LOSERS: MacAulay and Birkdale with 110 points
Moleskine:
– Definitely some kinks to iron out, but I hope you guys enjoyed it and got a good workout in
– Great to see Scrappy who showed up mid campaign to get a workout in and helped Wynfield to victory.
– Special Tip of the cap to those who helped aggregate team scores. 373 + 76 is not a fun exercise when you are out of breath. Extra special shoutout (ESS?) to Roadie who not only tallied Birkdale scores, but tracked the scores of all the teams
– We are still in need of volunteers for the Basin Relay, aka LKN BRR. Sign Up! https://f3lakenorman.com/announcement/2nd-anuual-lkn-basin-relay-volunteer-signups
– Praying for Barb, Toxic's relative who is battling cancer and Rocket's wife who broke her leg and is recovering
– Thanks to many of you who donated money to provide Thanksgiving meals to local families in need. If you haven't given yet but would still like to you can donate here ($25 = 1 meal): https://paypal.me/LKNkiwanis or bring cash or check to Flo. Flo may have more to say on how much was collected