Photo By Sgt. Emily Knitter | Spc. Luis Medina (right), a radio transmitter operator with Headquarters and...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD—Early mornings are not uncommon in military life. On most days, soldiers can be found striding around a track or straining to complete one more sit-up before the sun rises.
At 6 a.m. Oct. 30, about 50 service members and civilians gathered in the field house at Camp Liberty, Iraq—rock music shaking the walls—as they tried to push out 30 clean and jerk weightlifting exercises.
But this was not a normal workout. On this particular morning, the exercise was not entirely about building muscle. More so, it was about building awareness for breast cancer and raising money to provide mammograms for the less fortunate.
Capt. Jeffrey Luffman, medical planner for 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, and a Grant City, Ill., native, organized the “Amazing Grace, Barbells for Boobs” charity competition in support of Mammograms in Action; the event raised about $2,200. Luffman said Mammograms in Action is a nonprofit organization that provides mammograms for women who can’t afford them.
Luffman said he designed the workout based on the CrossFit program. Luffman, who has been participating in the program for the past six months, said the CrossFit community gets on board with a lot of different causes. He said hosting exercise events like these brings CrossFit participants together and also raises money for worthy causes.
“[Mammograms in Action] is a great cause,” Luffman said. “We had the opportunity to do the Fight Gone Bad [V] a couple weeks ago, had a good time with that, and thought this would be a good chance to do it again.”
Fight Gone Bad V was another CrossFit competition fundraiser at Camp Liberty, which raised money for the Livestrong Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.
“I’m always up for doing a CrossFit workout no matter how tired I am,” said Nick Charnley, director of intelligence for the Aegis Defense reconstruction liaison teams working in support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reconstruction mission in Iraq, and a St. Bees, England, native. “Especially for it being for such a good cause, I couldn’t resist it. I’m not a morning person; I don’t get up at 5 a.m. But if I have to for this event or the Mammograms in Action charity, I’ll do it.”
Andy Ward, the theater-wide coordinator for the reconstruction liaison teams with Aegis Defense, and a Nottingham, England, native, won the competition and said although he would most likely be doing CrossFit in the morning anyway, doing it for a charity was an added bonus.
“That everyone just turned up to work out together and the fact that it was to support a great charity was nice to know,” he said.
Luffman said this was the first time he has hosted a fundraiser like this.
“This was easy to do, and for those of you who want to take action on something, all it takes is your intent to get it rolling,” he said. “That is kind of what this was, from thought to execution was just a little bit of time and effort. It was very painless.”
Having a cause behind the workout helped motivate the participants to try things they wouldn’t necessarily otherwise.
“I haven’t done one [clean and jerk] in the 36 years prior to picking up that barbell,” said Charnley, who was proudly sporting a gray T-shirt with “Barbells for Boobs” emblazoned across the chest, in bright pink letters. “That barbell is slightly heavier than I am, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do CrossFit anyway and I suppose cancer runs fairly strong in my family. I know how difficult it is to get funding for research projects and everything I can do to help, I will do.”
“Maybe I did the correct movement in the quickest time, but there were a few monsters who threw [the barbell] up there a little faster than me,” Ward said with a laugh. “But I don’t much care about my place. CrossFit is a battle against yourself; a little like cancer in the sense that … it’s yours to beat. I just enjoyed seeing all our guys beating their personal records. A bit of competition always brings out the best.”
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2010 07:01 |
| Story ID: | 59718 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 7 |
This work, USD-C Soldiers, civilians raise funds, awareness for breast cancer research, by SGT Emily Knitter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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