Fort Hood CrossFitters endure, raise money for charity

More than 50 athletes and their supporters from Fort Hood's Centurion CrossFit and local CrossFit affiliates, CrossFit 254 and CrossFit Beyond Limits, gathered at the Killeen Community Center to put themselves to the test during the annual event, which raises funds for charities like the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and the CrossFit Foundation.

Fight Gone Bad 6 is a CrossFit workout of the day that encompasses three rounds of five events with one minute of rest between rounds.

"This is the only workout I will only do once a year. It's that bad," said John Robison, co-owner of CrossFit 254 based in Belton.

Local athletes strived to accomplish more than simply a workout for charity Saturday. Bragging rights were involved, too, as Centurion CrossFit was on track to be the number one fundraising military CrossFit affiliate for the second year in a row, according to Dave Taylor, co-owner of Centurion CrossFit Fort Hood and commander of Grim Troop, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

"As of early this morning, we are ahead of CrossFit Landstuhl by $300," Taylor, one of the event's organizers, said before the event got underway.

Once the event was underway, clanking of weights and the yelling of graders, supporters and athletes could be heard throughout the venue, but every five minutes, all of that yelling and clanking would give way to the silence of a one-minute rest period.

"That one minute of rest is deceptive," Robison said.

One participant was Katie Webb, whose husband, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Clint Webb, is currently deployed with the 1st Cavalry Division.

"I'm doing this because it's the least I can do to support those Soldiers and the military that have done so much," she said.

Webb said this was her first time participating in a workout or charity. She got involved in CrossFit when her husband deployed earlier this year.

"They tell me this is going to be the hardest 17 minutes I'll ever experience," she said while warming up for her turn at the event. "It's the best, because you know what you're doing it for, and it's for a good cause."

The athletes finished exhausted after three rounds of 20-pound wall balls, a 75-pound sumo deadlift high pull, 20-inch box jumps, a 75-pound push press and a row on the rowing machine for calories.

After Webb's workout, she collapsed on the floor before she was greeted by her two children. Webb said without hesitation she would definitely do it again and be stronger next time.

"It was harder than I thought," she said. "I had to think about why I was doing it and not what I was doing."

Individually, Taylor raised the most money Saturday -- more than $900. Overall, the Fort Hood and Killeen CrossFit community raised more than $10,000, Taylor said.