The day of the final Fittest Games Challenge had finally arrived. The 5K OffRoad course was mapped and the unknown adventure challenge was planned. Four men in particular went into this challenge all within points of one another. For months these competitors pushed each other at each competition, and now it finally came down to the challenge that would decide who would go on to compete in the National CrossFit Games. Only one Elite male and one Elite female could represent Texas at the Games, or so we thought.

Over the course of 16 weeks CrossFit Central hosted one Fittest Games Challenge a month in cities across Texas - with one goal in mind - to further spread The Sport of Fitness and seek out regional top competitors for The CrossFit Games in July. The competition was tough, both the Elite men and women were within points of each other at the challenges. They pushed each other to new heights and achieved things they never thought possible. At the CrossFit Total Joe Cavazos stepped up to the platform to perform his deadlift. He clutched the bar and began to lift the weight. His face flushed scarlet red as he exhaled. Mid way Joe began to struggle, the crowd started shouting words of encouragement - even his fellow competitors yelled "Come on Joe! Get It! Do it Joe!!" He completed the lift, set the weight down and brushed the sweat from his forehead. All smiles he came to the judges table to claim his next weight. Ripp looked at him, "Ya Sure ya wanna go again?" "I didn't think I could even get that weight!" Joe said as his new Personal Record of 402 pounds was marked on the judges sheet. Watch this challenge.

This being the inaugural year of The Fittest Games Challenge we established two rules. In order to be in the running for the Grand Prize - which was round trip airfare, hotel accommodation, and entrance into the National CrossFit Games - you had to complete all four challenges at the Elite level and you couldn't be a CrossFit coach. We set up a coach's division in which the CrossFit coaches competed against each other for cash prizes. At first glance this may seem like the latter of the two was taking the fun out of the competition. The purpose of setting up this year's challenge was to get more people involved in The Sport of Fitness. Having CrossFit clients compete in the challenge from across the State set a new precedence for this sport. It wasn't the case that a group of trained professional CrossFitters were competing against each other; instead, this opened up an opportunity for other capable CrossFitters to compete. For some competitors it didn't matter either way - they would compete regardless, for others the novelty of this Sport caused slight hesitation. When they found out they would be competing against CrossFitters with a day job much like themselves they came into the challenge more confident in their abilities. Next year, we'll have coaches compete!

CrossFit affiliates from across Texas came to help out with the events and got their athletes involved - CrossFit Rockwall, CrossFit A&M, CrossFit San Antonio, CrossFit Alamo, Lone Star CrossFit, CrossFit Cedar Park, CrossFit Breakaway Speed, CrossFit Woodlands. In the end it came down to the final event - an OffRoad 5K and an unknown adventure challenge. The competitors began to arrive, they hurried over to the sign in table and started warming up. This event was a perfect end to a CrossFit competition. The course was unknown to the competitiors until the morning of the event and it was filled with many natural obstacles, the weather wasn't an ideal Texas temperature, and the unknown challenge was 50 squats before in after the run with a sandbag that was 20lbs (give or take 5-10lbs).

Complete with Hill Runs, Pull Ups, Squats, Push Ups, Kettlebell swings, Weighted Squats, Med Ball work, a CrossFit Total, 5K, and adventure challenges this series truly put the competitors to the test! All participants rose to the occasion and Lisa Bender of Austin, TX, Kris Kepler of Austin, TX, and Ken Cutrer of Ft. Worth, TX took home the Grand Prize. These Elite Athletes will join the CrossFit Central coaches at the CrossFit Games in July and compete with hundreds of Athletes. View 5K Results & Highlight Video

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Fittest Games Challenge, all Texas CrossFit Affiliates, and supporters of Autism Speaks for helping us put on an incredible event series! Special thanks to Greg and Lauren Glassman and everyone at CrossFit HQ for developing the Sport of Fitness and sharing it with the world! Events like this wouldn't be possible without your vision.

CrossFit Central is bringing fierce competition this year - we'll see ya at the Games!