When asked, people often have a difficult time explaining what exactly The Open is. On its face it’s a competition. The first stage of the CrossFit Games season. In reality those who use the open as a means to participate in the games only make up an extremely small portion of what The Open is all about.
Each year approximately 0.26% of the participants in The Open will move on to the games. An average of 300,000 participants signed up each year, with only the top 40 men and 40 women earning a place at the games. So why would so many people sign up if they know their chances of making it are so slim?
They don’t care, that’s why. The remaining 299,920 people sign up to have fun. To test their fitness much in the way they get their annual check up at the doctor. They do it to hang out with their friends for a few Friday nights in late winter. They do it because it makes exercise enjoyable. They do it because they’ve worked hard all year to accomplish goals. They do it because it’s something they all share and it’s become an important part of their life.
It’s hard to believe that The 2025 CrossFit Spur Intramural Open will be our TENTH year. A lot has happened in the past decade and I’m still amazed at how our community has grown. Looking back on old photos I’m shocked at how different our facility looked.
I can remember thinking “what am I going to do with all this space??”. I couldn’t afford enough rubber mats to cover the whole floor, the walls were baby blue on the bottom with bare sheetrock up top and we had a mismatched collection of equipment that barely met the needs of a small group. My “office” was a folding table in the corner and a hammock in the storage area above the bathrooms. I spent my days (and more than a few very late nights) cleaning, painting, reorganizing, building storage, programming and envisioning. In the back of my mind I kept the belief that If I build it, they will come.
They did. Slowly, but steadily. People were having fun, getting fitter and telling their friends. But I wanted more that just a gym.
The Intramural Open was an idea I had (stolen) before Spur even opened it’s doors. With the experience I had participating in the CrossFit Open from 2011 to 2014 I knew there was something there to build upon with my own spin.
As the 2015 CrossFit Games season approached quickly after opening I scrambled to organize the Intramural Open. Something that not only brought our members together, but got people in the doors who may not have otherwise. This community event would let members show off their hard work, allow friends and family to share in the excitement of competition and create an atmosphere where EVERYONE was encouraged to try.
I was determined to make the winner more than just the athlete with the top score. I wanted the athletes to find success by participating together, having fun and truly trying.
The 2015 CrossFit Spur Intramural Open consisted of 28 participants. Week 1 saw a total of 9 “fans” in attendance. As the weeks went the fan base grew, culminating in the final week with a crowd of 27. To me, and I’m sure to the athletes competing a crowd of 55 people in a small gym in Glenmont felt like a sold out arena.
Fast forward ten years. The 2025 CrossFit Spur Intramural Open will see what started in a 4,000sf mostly empty gym space evolve into an 8,000sf health facility featuring a fully outfitted CrossFit space, two massage rooms, chiropractor, barber, sauna, cold plunge and a vast schedule of specialty classes.
Our roster has grown to 66 athletes and we anticipate at least half that number in spectators each night based on last years ‘fans in attendance’ scores.
And, perhaps most exciting of all this year we have the honor of hosting the CrossFit Games Open 25.3 live announcement. The 2024 Fittest Man on Earth James Sprague will be facing off against second place finisher Dallin Pepper and 4th place finisher Jayson Hopper right here at CrossFit Spur.
* This event will be invite only and we will be sending out invitations over the coming weeks. Intramural Open participants will receive the first round of invites, followed by our members. Please contact [email protected] with questions.
2025 CrossFit Spur Intramural Open Teams
Please ask or email Lauren ([email protected]) with any questions regarding scoring.
Score updates may be delayed as we have to wait for last minute challenge submissions as well as online score submission deadlines.
This year we will be announcing the winner at the open after party following the week 4 event.