Fitness buffs from St. Maarten and abroad will flex their muscles to show who is stronger in the 3rd Annual Fittest on the Rock competition, which will be held on June 3 and 4 at Port St. Maarten.
The competition will start with registration/weigh-ins from 10:00 to 10:45 on Saturday morning and then the first workout will start at 11:00. On Sunday, the event will start at 10:30am.
Fittest on the Rock is a workout competition for men and women, which puts participants’ endurance and strength to the test. Ardwell Irion from the coordination team told Health & Beauty that there will be 15 workout options.
Irion, who is also a Member of Parliament, said coordinators anticipate some 60 participants from St. Maarten and abroad, including 15 from Anguilla. Participants will also come from the US and Nevis.
Irion promises an exciting event. “Last year, we added a new aspect to the event and had demonstrations from international athletes. This was done to promote different types of fitness disciplines. We will also have demonstrations this year. Jason Bonam (aka Jason Calisthenics) will be giving a calisthenics demonstration. Brandon Harrison, a professional jump-roper, will be giving a jump-rope demonstration; and Jeffry Verschoor, known as Kid Columbia, will be giving a break dancing demonstration.”
There will also be more options than last year. “We plan to have more workout equipment. This will enable us to do multiple competitions at a time which will make the competition flow quicker.”
To keep the competition as fair as possible, coordinators try to get judges from different organisations. This year’s judges will come from Crossfit SXM, Anguilla, Arena Warriors amongst others.
Irion encourages persons to participate in the competition. “If you are active in the gym, this is a great way to challenge yourself. This competition will let you know what you are capable of; who knows, you might surprise yourself. What increases the experience of the event are the spectators. Sometimes, cheering from the audience is just what a participant needs to complete one extra rep or lift their ultimate max. So we encourage you to come out and support the participants. It also serves as a motivation to the spectators and they too leave the event determined to start working out and being more active. Besides the workout competition, there will also be the demonstrations from the international athletes and we will also have different booths from different organisations where you can get familiar with their products or services.”
Irion was unable to train for the event this year, so he will serve as a judge and form part of a three-person committee that will discuss and finalize issues that may arise.
Participants will be required to pay a US $30 registration fee and spectators can experience the event for $20. Fittest on the Rock is possible thanks to sponsors Heavenly Water, Port St. Maarten, Princess Juliana International Airport SXM, St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Department of Sports, Utilities Company GEBE, TelEm, Arena Base Cafe, Alicia’s Inn and Interline Connections.
