Aside from the annual Memorial Day “Murph” workout, the highlight of the year for avid CrossFitters is the CrossFit Games, a multi-day sporting event that’s meant to “objectively measure fitness.” For those unfamiliar, the Games are like the Olympics of CrossFit, and the athletes who qualify to compete take part in a decathlon of sorts. Each year, the movements are different, but they are always intended to test athletes on what CrossFit deems the “10 fitness domains”: cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.
The official workout is not typically revealed in advance of the Games, but this year, CrossFit announced some of the events about a week ahead of the 2023 No Bull CrossFit Games, which will take place August 1-6 in Madison, Wisconsin. CrossFitters are not so thrilled with one of the workouts on the menu—this year’s Games events will include a 5K cross-country run.
Many CrossFitters famously hate running and prefer weight lifting to cardio-based workouts. While the Games always incorporate some running element, it’s much less common to see pure long distance running events where running is the only component of the workout.
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The last time it happened was in 2020, early in the pandemic, when only five men and five women competed at the in-person Games. Before that, 2019’s competition included a 6K run, but athletes were required to wear a weighted vest while covering the distance, so it’s not quite the same as tackling a tactical 5K cross-country course for time.
The organizers behind the Games know how the community feels about endurance running. CrossFit coach Chris Hinshaw declared in a blog post for Morning Chalk Up, the official CrossFit news site, that the event “has the potential to devastate.”
Hinshaw, a former All-American swimmer and triathlete with podium finishes at the Ironman World Championships, despite the real talk, is actually all about the cross-country run. He responded to the Games Instagram announcement about the race: “Running the 5000m distance is a true test of overall athletic fitness. It requires a unique combination of physiological factors such as aerobic capacity, lactate threshold, running economy, and psychological factors like motivation and perceived exertion.”
Some fans just aren’t having it, though. On a CrossFit Games’ Instagram post, one CrossFitter commented, “What’s up with all these events being all about cardio? 5K run? Bike? Like come on, I wanna watch some barbell movement.”
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Like the Wind Magazine, The New York Times, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
