CrossFit 38ºN

It's been over a year since we closed our doors and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about this community. One thing this community always did well, maybe too well, was come together and get loose during the holidays. .ceeee thought it was time that this social 38 North dry spell had to end and I couldn't agree more. So the bat signal is going up and I'm calling any athlete/coach who ever stepped foot in our gym to come join us Saturday 12/4 at 5pm at "the block" in Petaluma for some drinks! Super casual, in all honesty there is no plan but to get together, have some drinks, lie about old PR's, and see where the night and booze takes us. Whether it's for 5 min or 5 hours I'd love to see you. I hope this finds you all happy and healthy and if you are concerned that you are too out of shape to come and hang you've got 11 days to get your motor/tolerance back. Hope to see you there!

This is the picture from one of the first weeks we opened our doors. From that day forward over the last nine years this community has been my sanctuary. No matter how challenging my days were, even when I was teaching, selling real estate, owned the restaurant, and ran this place all at once, when I was here I was always present. That’s what this community has done for me, its kept me present. I don’t think about anything else when I am within our walls, just the movements and the people that surround me. I hope you all felt the same in the time you spent here. I hope this community was an escape for you. I know escape seems like a negative word but I don’t look at it as such. We all need an escape, we all need a break from our lives and reality. The goal and my vision was to provide an escape that welcomed everyone regardless of gender, race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or personality. We have welcomed the whole spectrum to this box and I believe that is the reason why it had the effect it did for so many though the years.
Writing this tonight I realize that the one thing I am proudest about above all else is that I feel we let our athletes find potential they never knew they possessed. I watched a 60+ year old woman come in with zero experience and leave us with cancer squatting 187 pounds(as she had cancer in her body). We all have experienced these gains, we have all realized we are stronger, faster, more coordinated, and that we all have that strong resilient person inside of us. You all have taught me more about who I am then any course or job I have ever held. For this I am forever grateful. I know I will see many of you for years to come. However, if there are any current or past athletes that I don’t get the opportunity to encounter in the future I want to you know that without all of you we would have been nothing. You all played a part, whether you know it or not. We all were meant to cross paths in this world for some reason, and crossing paths with all of you has forever shaped me as a man. Thank you athletes, and and thank you Coaches. Stay healthy and stay moving!

2020 was kind of a wash with pictures because of Corona so I want to take this time to thank the absolute life blood of this community, the coaches. Coach’s Jen p, Greg H, , Royce S, and I am forever in your debt for what you gave this community. You were the reason athletes came in, you were the reason we all got fit, and you were the reason this place won’t be forgotten anytime in the near future. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this team and made some life long friends along the way. As a business owner your business is your baby. I never worried for a second whose hands my baby was in over the nine years we were open. Thank you!

2019
Pic 1-Post open pain face collage
Pic 2- Holiday party strikes again. This followed the most intense game of flip cup ever witnessed on this earth.
Pic 3-Another 38N proposal!
Pic 4- RIP Jeffery Anne
Pic 5- Murph
Pic 6- That Post WOD High
Pic 7- Another great Open in the books
#2019

2018
Pic 1- top 4 photo of all time. Urban coming up under 317 # in the open. This pic explains the open much better then I could
Pic 2- Janelle knows how much I love this pic
Pic 3- Nick GP reconfiguring his life goals after a WOD
Pic 4- Brewsters Takeover
Pic 5- Ladies Nigjt
Pic 6- 38N Margarita off, Forrest G takes gold
Pic 7- Fitness & Friedships
Pic 8- Another strong Competion crew
Pic 9- Another 38N marriage(and baby soon there after). I am going to give some credit to to Troy and I for nudging Mr Motto to ask out this wonderful woman
#2018

2017
Pic 1-The friendships you make
Pic 2-Matt OB finishing his row while
fellow Silverback Bill A gives him a push
Pic 3-We may have never gone to the games but we podium’d at partying
Pic 4-The stong ladies of 38N
Pic 5- Urban getting under one
Pic 6- preparing for summer
Pic 7- Troy at the NorCal Masters comp
Pic 8- Another mid completion PR, I love these moments when they are caught. There is little in life that matches that feeling
#2017

2016
Pic 1-Post New Years WOD
Pic 2- Chelsea’s 38N holiday party at which the cops were called on us because they thought someone was being assaulted. Really the entire party was singing TLC’s “Don’t go chasing waterfalls” at the top of there lungs for an hour strait(True story)
Pic 3-Thanksgiving WOD which we’re always my favorite and had huge turnouts
pic 4-Ally D’s mid comp PR which is one of my favorite pictures ever
Pic 5-Murph
Pic 6-Michelle’s B Day Bonanza
#2016

2015
Pic 1- Maybe my favorite picture ever taken at our gym. Matt K decided to do his last open WOD of the year in tight Wranglers and Cowboy boots and crushes the workout as we drink beer in disbelief.
Pic 2-we had the honor to hold a fundraiser for Micolissencephaly for a daughter of two of our members. Mustaches and Muscle Ups was one for the ages.
Pic 3-After the mustaches were fully grown the guys decided to do a walkoff during the fundraiser in the outfit of your choice. EJ sneaks into the office, comes out in this and cements the legendary status of the “most Italian Crossfitter” of all time.
Pic 4-Matt didn’t complain about the ratio at the 9:30am that day.
Pic 5-Murph 2015
Pic 6-Pain Cave population Dos
Pic 7- 38 North representing at the Tamelpais CrossFit throwdown.
Pic 8- Saturday WOD group Pic
Pic 9-Pre gaming and building courage for the walkoff

This was a great year of pictures.

2014
From community events, to huge Saturday WOD’s, our 38 North in house Throwdown, Amy and Troy representing at the rookie rumble, and a athlete and coaches perspective/view of the 2014 CrossFit open. There was no shortage or energy, fitness, or laughter in 2014 for this community. #2014

2013
Pic 1 is of Jesse in the 2013 CrossFit open. Jesse had missed about 8 attempts at the Rx sn**ch weight then with about 20 seconds to go he got under this one and the place erupted.

Pic 2- Again in the open Coach Billy, Alex, and myself surround Dan Vegas with 4 seconds to go to get another rep out of him. The energy and emotion of these early CrossFit opens were unlike anything I’ve been a part of.

Pic 3- The crew coming down to support Sean and Alex at the Dueces Wild Comp at Diablo where they took 3rd. This community always took time to come out and support no matter how long the drive was.

It is with great sadness that I announce that CrossFit 38 Degrees North will be closing its doors at the end of this month. Our lease term has expired and with the current environment of Covid/non essential business shutdowns our landlord has expressed that our business is too much of a liability going forward and has secured another long term tenant to take our place. We have tried everything to find another location but it just isn't in the cards at this time. The frustration of losing an almost decade long business in this way has been tough to deal with the last couple of weeks. Yet every time I have a mental battle over the closure of this community I think of the same 3 words, what a ride. This community has forever changed my life and the lives of the hundreds of athletes who took part in this journey with us. The fitness and friendships that formed as a direct result of opening our doors in 2012 is both staggering and humbling. Even in these frustrating times I am always reminded that we have had 7 married couples find each other within our walls. We have had countless athletes whose main friendship circle is primarily 38 North Athletes. This was magnified at the funeral of one of our dear athletes who passed away from lung cancer. Another one of our athletes, who Jeffery Anne had become dear friends with, was asked by the family to be one of four people to speak at her funeral. These are memories that I will hold close, not the forced shutdown of the fitness industry over these last 6 months and the closure of this community. A huge thank you to every athlete who passed through our doors and contributed to the energy and idea of who we were as a community. Thank you to every coach who spent time and energy making the lives of the athletes that surrounded them better, you were this community's largest asset. I will be posting one picture each day over the next 9 days from each year we were open. This first one is one of my favorites from 2012 and represents the feeling and energy you got in each of our classes at 38 North. I am not going anywhere anytime soon and I look forward to seeing all of you around town and reminiscing about the time we spent together over this last decade. The door isn't shut on running this thing back after COVID passes but time will tell on that idea. Stay healthy and keep moving!