South Sound women head to Vancouver for FemSport Fitness Challenge

Seeking more than a mere workout, local women train for numerous events, including a strength and fitness challenge August 9 in Vancouver, B.C.

In the workaday world, Ruta Biteman has done some heavy lifting as a caterer. Amy Weimar is all about precision with her various instruments as a dental hygienist. And Jaclynn Moergeli does double-duty, dealing the cards at an area casino while working toward her masters degree in counseling.

But before heading to the job, the three local women – Biteman and Moregeli from Kent, Weimar from Renton – don their workout gear and head to the Kent-Meridian High School gym at 5:30 a.m. That’s where they join more than a dozen other women who remain eager to quench their competitive thirst in different types of athletic events, whether those events are mainstream – a road race here, a triathlon there – or decidedly different.

One of those different kind of events is this weekend’s FemSport Women’s All-Strength and Fitness Challenge in Vancouver, B.C.

Though north of the border, it will have a definite local flavor.

“At first, we started out with 10 women. Now, we’re at about 20,” said Kent’s Melissa Hardin, a 28-year-old mother of three who took what was a loosely organized gathering and has turned it into a dedicated group that wanted something more out of their workout than just a workout.

“I was looking for things to keep me competitive,” Hardin said. “I met a few women locally who shared this same vision.”

Not everyone from the group will be joining Hardin, Biteman, Weimar and Moergeli this weekend. Some are focusing on a 10K run, others on an adventure race. Some of them want to take a shot at everything.

Anything but merely exercise.

“I just happened upon it, just saw a sign hanging up,” said the 37-year-old Weimar, who graduated from Kentridge, but never participated in athletics. “It sounded right up my alley as far as sport-specific training. I like to have a goal or motivation that I’m training for something.

“I’ve done other kinds of competitions that were more physique-related,” added Weimar, who now has a marathon and several triathlons on her resume’ after being a no-sporter in high school. “(But) I like the more athletic part of it.”

In fact, “the athletic part of it” is one of the common bonds in an otherwise diverse group.

“I get a lot of calls that ask, ‘Is this a boot camp?’ It isn’t. A boot camp is focused on health and fitness, which is great,” Hardin said. “But these women push hard, lift heavier weights, work toward goals.

“It’s a little more intense than a boot camp.”

Biteman, who’s 44, joined the group with a boot-camp mindset: She wanted to get in shape.

That mindset is different now.

“It has evolved into a whole lot more,” Biteman said. “It’s more about endurance and strength and different sort of events. I’ve never really been into fitness per se. I just joined Melissa’s camp. It just got me interested and pumped up to do something like this.”

Ever try these events?

“Something like this” is far from your average athletic competition. This weekend’s event in Vancouver will include, among other things, bicep curls, box jump, tire pull, kettlebell lift, and an obstacle course (see box).

Sounds interesting. Sounds stimulating. Sounds … fun?

Or does it?

“I’m always up for a new challenge,” Weimar said. “The morning classes are fun because it gets you fit for any kind of a competition.”

In some ways, it has been more than Moergeli bargained for – not that she’s complaining.

“I was just caught off guard by the whole thing,” said the 26-year-old Moergeli, who played volleyball and basketball while at Enumclaw High School. “It’s all different parts of your body that you’re using.

“I saw myself maybe doing some different runs – I was expecting to do something like a half marathon or a marathon,” Moergeli said. “But nothing highly competitive like this. I just didn’t know this was out there.”

This is far from a closed group. While it started out primarily as Kent School District employees who take part before heading to work in the mornings, it’s open to any woman who still has a competitive urge, wants a purpose to her workouts – and doesn’t mind an early wake-up call.

In fact, while there’s no mandatory attendance rule, everyone shows up anyway, or risks taking some flack from the others.

“It’s something I’ve needed – I like to stay in bed in the morning,” Moergeli acknowledged. “But I know I’m held accountable.”

The fun and woman-to-woman camaraderie notwithstanding, the sessions are serious at the same time.

“We’re working toward events for women who are goal-oriented and have athletic desire to work hard and let trainers (help them) do it,” said Hardin, who is certified as an athletic trainer and as a strength-and-conditioning coach, runs the strength program for the Tacoma-based Triple Play baseball club, and serves as an assistant trainer to the visiting teams who come to KeyArena for WNBA games against the Seattle Storm. “I’ve always worked with intense athletes.”

For Biteman, it all has been a perfect fit. After doing volleyball and track in high school, she admitted to not being very active since then. And, as she put it, she wasn’t into the idea of “going into a gym and watching us jump up and down doing aerobics.”

“This is kind of opening the door to other sports that none of us have ever considered,” Biteman said. “At this point, we’re already talking about next year’s competition. We started pretty late this year (near the end of May), but we feel we’re going to do reasonably well.”

Sure, it’s a different kind of event. But it gives them a purpose. Gives them a goal.

Gives them much more than mere exercise.

What is it?

What – FemSport Women’s All-Strength and Fitness Challenge.

When – Today.

Where – Vancouver, B.C.

What are the events? – Bicep curls: Within a one-minute period, competitors lift, as many times as they can, a barbell that is 30 percent of their body weight (i.e., a 125-pound athlete would lift 37.5 pounds). Box jumps: Competitors must jump onto and off of a box that is 20 inches high as many times as they can (up to 50 times) within one minute. Kettlebell lift: Competitors move five kettlebells, ranging from 26.4 pounds to 70.4 pounds, from one location to another location approximately 20 feet away, then place it on pedestals of decreasing height, from 5 feet down to 3 1/2 feet. Tire pull: Athletes pull a weighted tire that is 70 percent of their body weight backward down a 75-foot course as quickly as possible. Obstacle course: Components include carrying two 40-pound water jugs the length of a 75-foot course, agility apparatus, balance beam, baton placement, sprints, tire flips, and moving over or under an obstacle. Tug-of-war: That one needs no explanation.

The Kent-based group – More information on upcoming training schedules and the four Kent-area locations where training takes place can be found online at www.funsportchallenge.com, or by calling (253) 249-9359, or by e-mailing to Melissa Hardin at info@funsportchallenge.com.