Megan Apostoleris | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

We get to catch up with Megan Apostoleris as she heads to the 2024 CrossFit Games. One of the most delightful people I have met in this sport.  Can't wait to see what her goals are for the upcoming Games and beyond.

What is Clydesdale Media Podcast?

We cover the sport of CrossFit from all angles. We talk with athletes, coaches and celebrities that compete and surround in the sport of CrossFit at all levels. We also bring you Breaking News, Human Interest Stories and report on the Methodology of CrossFit. We also use the methodology to make ourselves the fittest we can be.

Hey, hey, still.

Let's go.

I was born a killer.

I was meant to win.

I am down and willing,

so I will find a way.

It took a minute,

now it didn't happen right away.

When it get hot in the kitchen,

you decide to stay.

That's how a winner's made.

Stick a fork in the head of

my dinner plate.

What's going on, everybody?

Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,

where we are highlighting

the athletes from the 2024

Legends Masters CrossFit Games.

And I'm so excited to have

with me Megan Apostolaris.

Hi.

Did I get that right?

Yeah.

I was going to comment.

I was just waiting for the

appropriate time.

Nice.

So, Greek?

Yes.

How far back do you go to Greece?

Who first came to Canada?

So I pretty much only have

the last name and I can say

a couple of swear words.

So it was my grandparents.

They moved from Greece.

And so I'm like third generation.

So it's, you know,

aside from the like loud

and the cool last name,

I don't have that much Greek left in me.

Okay.

Um, but it's, I love the, I,

for some reason, the last names of,

of Greek, um,

descendants is just awesome.

I think it's cool.

Yeah.

Glad I had it.

Yeah.

Um,

so this is your second time back to the

CrossFit games.

Yeah.

Feels like my first again,

because it's a new event this year,

which is kind of cool.

Are you excited about the

changes they made?

I am actually like, it feels different,

but I genuinely feel like

it's the best thing for

both the sport of CrossFit

and for the masters who

compete in CrossFit.

I think it was a good idea.

Good, a good move.

So you have been doing

CrossFit since almost the beginning.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I want to know what it's

like to do this thing for

15 years and then get your

first qualification to the

CrossFit Games.

I don't know.

It's a good question because for me,

I'm super goal-oriented,

and I actually never wrote

down the goals.

want to go to the CrossFit

Games as a masters because

until this year it seemed

so impossible to make it

into the top 10 purely by

online qualification and

that's not because I never

thought I was not good

enough it's just like legit

the stars have to align for

10 people to get picked to

go through that to get to

go to the games like this was

like logistics and criteria

of online qualifications.

So to answer your question,

like it was something like

I kind of always,

I never thought it could happen,

but I always knew it could

happen kind of thing.

If that makes sense.

So when it did happen,

were you caught off guard?

Were you, or were you just excited that it,

that it, that it did?

It was,

It was a roller coaster

because the way it happened

was I in the end I got to

go because of another and

another athletes penalty.

So and she was a friend of

mine and still is,

and she's coming to the games this year,

which is amazing.

But I was at the end of last year's semis.

I was sitting like in 12th

and she was in 10th and

then she got a penalty and

then it bumped me up.

So it was just like, well,

I guess this is happening.

Like I, it was more just like,

it was very surreal until I

got to Madison and was like, holy smokes,

I'm at the games right now.

Like it was really a roller

coaster and very surreal

until the moment I was there.

So a lot of the people I'm

talking to this week have

never been there.

This is their rookie year

because to be honest, we're, we're,

we're bringing more people

to the games finally.

For sure.

And, and deservedly so.

Yeah.

What is the advice you would

give to those people after

experiencing it last year?

Um, advice probably said,

take it all it's like holy

smokes you're at the games

right now um and it's

really easy to get very

stressed out I think the

experience I had last year

will be quite different

than the experience this

year um because last year

you're with a group of 10

only in your age and you're

kind of like with them for

every event and you're in

the corral with only those 10 girls and

a bunch of them were

veterans pre-rookies I was

one of them and so like it

was a very kind of like it

was cool and everyone was

super friendly um but I

think it's going to be very

different this year where

we're going to have 40 of

us so there's going to be

this like wide range of

girls to sort of roll with

which I think is going to

be really fun but I guess

yeah it would just seem to

take it in like and people

gave me this advice last

year like the games there

should be no pressure like

your your training got you

there and the games is just

a chance to enjoy like the

fruits of your labor and so

that's my plan for this

year um but it was like it

was hard to do that last

year where it was like

whole like you're almost

like star struck when

you're there or I was anyway

I met you last year at Legends.

You were one of the funniest

people I ran into at check-in.

Very memorable running into you.

You seem to love to compete.

Yeah.

Is that regardless of the

size of the stage?

You just love to compete?

Yes.

I do love

and I compete ever since I

was a kid like I remember

very distinctly when I

graduated from elementary

school our teacher gave us

all nicknames and my

nickname was the competitor

even um I just always

drive to be the best.

I don't know where that came from.

My parents, I guess, upbringing,

I don't know,

but I just really take a lot

of pride in everything that

I do and I'm really disciplined.

And then when it gets to

time to like game day,

I just really want to showcase.

And in that environment

where there's like the

crowd and music and other

people to sort of look and

see what's going on, like I just,

I very much do my own thing and like,

you know, do my own workout, but I just,

I just mostly love just the

vibe of a competition.

So I we're into this a

little bit that we're

having a little technical

issue with your mic.

Okay.

So I think because you have

your phone standing on its end.

Yeah.

It's interfering with when you talk,

sometimes it's muting your mic.

Can you turn it to the side?

And then there we go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think it sounds great.

What it was doing is just

muting your mic like every third word.

Oh, weird.

Yeah.

So.

So now you love to compete.

What was your what was your

athletic background?

Growing up,

I didn't play any real sports

until I was like a young teenager,

like 13.

And then I started playing hockey.

And I also played softball.

And when I grew up in a very,

very small town,

there wasn't a lot of like

opportunity for women's hockey.

And I'm also like old

because I'm a master's.

So I played hockey with boys

until I was university aged.

And then I played varsity

hockey at university.

And then I found CrossFit after that.

Um, but like, I didn't consider my,

like now that I do CrossFit

and I'm fit from CrossFit,

I don't feel like I was

even fit before CrossFit.

You know what I mean?

Like that's,

I would attribute all of my

athletic gains to CrossFit

a hundred percent and weightlifting.

So how did you find it?

It's so weird.

So I worked at a gym,

like a mainstream gym early

on in like 2004.

And there was a coach there

and he would run these boot

camps and they were so fun and so hard.

And I'd be like, Brad, his name is Brad.

Where do you get your ideas?

He's like, oh,

I get them from this like website,

CrossFit.com.

And I was like, oh, cool.

And then fast.

And then I kind of

i moved into a sort of

another chapter of life

where I became a police

officer and several years

went went by like it got to

be around 2008 2009 and I

was in a normal gym again

just being bored doing the

same old stuff and I saw a

guy across the gym doing

kipping pull-ups and for

whatever reason like I saw

him doing kipping pull-ups and

that made me think of those

boot camps and then I got

home that night and googled

crossfit edmonton which was

where I was living at the

time and there was a gym

just sort of close by I

looked it up and it said

there was a fundamentals

class starting like the

next day and I was like oh

cool so I you know gps'd it

I'm driving there and I'm

like I'm thinking I'm going to like

a gym like a mainstream gym

because I don't know yet

really what a CrossFit gym

looks like and so I'm like

getting led on my GPS like

into this weird industrial

area and I'm like what is

going on and like I get to

the address and there's

like there's no sign or

anything I open the door I

like peek in and obviously

like it looks like what I

now know to be a CrossFit

gym just like a wide open

space and I'm like this is

weird and then the coach is there and

his name was cam and I'm

like hey I'm here for the

fundamentals course and

he's like yeah cool like

you're the only one signed

up and I was like okay um

and it was quite expensive

in my mind back then and um

I was like do you mind if

like I just try like one

session before I pay a

couple hundred bucks

and he's like yeah yeah sure

so he went through

everything with me like the

movements and then we were

gonna do a wad and I was

like well can you do it

with me I don't want to do

it alone and um he was like

sure and the wad was fight

gone bad I remember it and uh

And we did it together.

And after that, I was like, wow,

I just need to keep doing this.

And that gym was called CrossFit Lineage.

And it was in Edmonton, Alberta.

And I went there for several months.

And then my job,

I was transferred to Ottawa, Ontario.

And even before I moved, I'm like Googling,

like, where can I do CrossFit?

And so after that one day at

CrossFit Lineage, I was like,

I was hooked.

And I haven't stopped since then.

Fight Gone Bad and I have a

very bad relationship.

I don't like it anymore.

It's not one of my favorite workouts now,

but I just remember

distinctively it was that

workout that sold me on CrossFit.

I have thrown up a couple

times in CrossFit,

and it has either been on a

team where I pushed too

hard to help my team out or

Fight Gone Bad.

Oh, man, that's so funny.

I want to know from you,

why was I memorable at Legends and funny?

Why was I funny?

Well, one, you just are.

I think you have that

extrovert kind of vibe.

And when I was going through

the line in the check-in,

everybody was afraid to be

on camera or afraid to talk.

And you had no problem with it at all.

You,

and you actually like kept talking and

it was, and it was really cool.

I really enjoyed that time.

I remember the lineup.

Now that you say the lineup,

I totally remember it.

Cool.

Yeah.

So, uh, so yeah, so you,

you find CrossFit and

eventually you become a gym owner.

Yeah.

That's very recent though.

Okay.

So what was that journey to that?

So until, so from like,

I'll say my beginning, so like 2008,

2009 to like 2017,

all I did was the class WOD.

That's all I did.

I would come in,

do the class WOD and then leave.

And then 2017,

I was a master's and after the open,

I was like, wow,

like I actually did really

well in this year's open.

I can't remember I think I

was like ranked 403rd in my

age group which was 35 to

39 at the time and I always

remember back then you

needed to make top 200 to

like get to quarters or

semis or I think it was

called the age group online

qualifier at that time and

I was like wow I'm 403rd

and I just do the class

like maybe I could be good

at this so then I kind of

found some people and

um started like doing extra

training and like getting

better and then the next

year was 2018 and I

remember I had to be top

200 and 2018 I finished 200

201 like legit I was 201st

and I was like what the

hell and then 2019 I like

really dialed it in and

like did even more and

started tracking my macros

and like getting really

into it and training harder

and harder and harder and then um

So 2019, I like really crushed the open.

I did really well.

I finished like 15th in the

open or something.

And then went to the age

group online qualifier.

And from there,

it used to be they would

take 20 people to the games.

But that year, for whatever reason,

they changed it to 10.

And I think I finished like, you know,

somewhere in the teens.

Like I would have made it

had they not changed it.

So I was like, oh, man.

And then...

You know, I just kept training,

kept doing my thing.

I had got transferred again at one point,

I think, like with my job, whatever.

I just kept training.

And then, I don't know, like each year,

and then I aged up to 40 to 44.

And a couple of years in,

I ended up qualifying for the games.

And then, yeah,

I transferred to Nova Scotia,

which is where I live now.

uh for work in 2021 and the

area that I moved into

didn't have a crossfit gym

um but it had a gym that

like there were some people

there doing wads and so I

was training there

obviously and I was like

this needs to be a crossfit

gym like there's none here

there's an opportunity um

And I met my business partner,

who's also my coach now.

He was heavily involved in

the sport of Olympic weightlifting.

So we became friends through that.

And one day I just like we

were out chatting and I was like,

we like this gym needs to

be a CrossFit gym.

You want to open one?

Ha ha ha.

Just joking around.

And he didn't really say anything.

He's a man of few words.

He didn't say anything.

He just kind of giggled.

But then like three weeks he he

came back to me and he was

like hey you know that idea

about like opening a

crossfit gym he's like I

think we should do it and

so I was like okay and so

the owners of that gym at

the time were kind of

looking to get out of it

like it was more of a hobby

for them um so we bought

the gym we turned it into

an affiliate in 2022 early

2022 started running classes

and just growing it sort of

slowly organically.

And then actually the reason

why I was rudely late for

our podcast today was

because we just recently

moved locations into this

big new facility.

We have like the nicest

CrossFit rig I've ever seen.

Like I love it so much and we just moved.

So it's growing, it's doing well and yeah.

And it's crazy that I now, you know,

own a gym.

Yeah,

you and Training Think Tank are on

the same gym schedule now.

Are we?

I don't know if you saw that yet.

Training Think Tank this

weekend just reopened their new location.

Did they?

That's really cool.

Yeah, man, it was so much work to move.

It was crazy.

I can't believe like Travis

mayor and max and all like

right before the games

decided to move locations.

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

That is crazy.

I, I would say,

cause everyone gets confused.

They don't really know that

the masters games is now at

a different time.

So they're like, Oh my God,

don't you have to like be at the gate?

Like, are you leaving?

Like, you know, and I'm like, no,

it's at the end of August.

Thank God.

Because I'm just gassed from moving.

And I, you know,

so I'm glad I have a few

more weeks to just get back

in the routine and

Well, you got your, uh,

odd object training in.

Oh man.

I was actually thinking

about that when I was

lugging those rubber mats around,

trying to place them.

I learned that they each weigh 92 pounds.

And so I was just like, yeah,

this is games training.

Like 92 pounds.

Yeah.

And I almost wish I didn't

know that because it made it worse.

Someone, the guys we bought them from,

they were like, yeah,

these each weigh 92 pounds.

I'm like, oh man, like that's so heavy.

I moved my old gym twice and

I was always the guy who

set the new floor and like, I just,

you just do it.

Cause you,

but I never knew they were 92 pounds.

Now, you know,

and it's going to make it worse.

I'm sorry.

Um, so, so gosh, I have so much.

So are you still in law enforcement?

I sort of am.

So I was a police officer for 17 years.

And then just for personal reasons,

a few years ago,

I retired and I'm going to

use that term loosely.

I retired from being a police officer,

but the very next day I

went back to work with the

same organization, but as a civilian.

So I do currently work for

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

but I'm no longer a police officer.

I do like a civilian job.

Everything's from behind a computer.

I do security screening for

other federal departments.

So I'm going to ask

questions just because of my naiveness.

Yeah.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Yeah.

What I know of it here in the States.

Yeah.

What I learned on Dudley

Do-Right as a kid.

Yeah.

Did you ride a horse?

So I did,

but only because I did a ceremonial duty,

which is called the musical ride.

And it's a show where you

are on horseback in that

outfit like that you're picturing.

And we traveled around

Canada and the world

putting on like a cool,

like choreographed on

horseback like thing.

But normal people in the RCMP,

that's the acronym for the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

Normal police officers that

work for the RCMP don't.

We're police officers on the

road patrolling just like everybody else.

But we also have a large

number of us who work in

like national headquarters

doing more like behind the

scenes policing as well.

Similar, I would say to like the FBI.

So there's a few different elements,

but like there's definitely

the majority of RCMP

officers who are in a police car,

like arresting bad guys.

um which is you know yes but

but what you're picturing

like the mountie dudley do

right all that like that is

a thing um but it's it's

ceremonial now in nature

you know right now I cannot

not picture you in the

outfit I can send you a

cool photo after the podcast

That's all I can picture.

Yeah.

Like it's legit.

We had trading cards.

Like when I was on the ceremonial duty,

like it's like you're a

rock star when you're on

this and you have trading

cards and they're with my horse.

Like it's pretty cool.

So the other question I had for you,

that's way off topic is

your tattoo is so awesome.

Thank you.

So I was scrolling back to

your Instagram and, and as you go back,

you put it together in pieces, right?

Yeah, I did by accident.

Yes.

So what is the significance of it?

And because you do kind of

talk about it in the post

when it finally gets finished.

yeah um so it started off

literally as just like me

being a kid wanting a tiny

little maple leaf on my

shoulder and it was red and

it was like this big um and

that's what I got from just

some random tattoo studio

that you walk into on the

street um and then after

that I was like oh I kind

of wanted to look more like

artsy fartsy so then I went

to another just like random

tattoo studio and they kind

of like made um

some like cool lines on it

and like at the time I was

okay with it um but then I

got kind of tired of it and

I just wanted more and I

eventually did want like a

full sleeve um and then my

cousin had this beautiful

tattoo and I said alex

where did you get that

tattoo and he told me from

this guy named damon

rowenchild and his tattoo

studio is called urban

primitive and I always get

it mixed up with born

primitive so I'm like

Urban primitive is the name of it.

And so I looked him up and

he was in Ontario,

which is where I was living at the time,

but a few hours drive.

So I made an appointment with,

to go see him.

And he's this like guy

that's in his probably late fifties,

early sixties now,

kind of like a hippie ish kind of guy.

And he believes that getting

a tattoo is almost like a

spiritual journey because

i don't know all these

reasons um but I was like I

want you to make my tattoo

like cover up this other

one but make it cool and I

wanted to incorporate some

flowers of the birth months

of each of my family

members like my mom my dad

my brother and me um so he

just like and he's like a

legit artist like he

freehand drew all the uh

flowers on me and then did

these like cool like I

don't know if you can see

it they're like all like

geometric lines and he did

this all freehand

um and when you go to him

you like he has this

beautiful home in the woods

and you you're at his home

and you can stay in like a

room there and they feed

you him it was him and his

wife they feed you like

organic food and and you

just like hang out while

they do this tattoo so he

he did like just the

shoulder part at that point

because it takes forever

because it's all like tiny

little dots I don't know if

you can see it it's all

just like dot work everywhere um

So yeah, it takes a long time.

And then,

so he did that part on my shoulder.

And then the next like a year or two later,

I went back, he finished like the sleeve.

And then there was like one

little part here that he had to finish.

So I went back to see him

like multiple times.

And like now we're like

really good friends.

Like we're very on the same

page with a lot of our beliefs in life.

And I almost feel like he's

like a family member now.

So everyone's like, oh,

are you going to get, you know,

more tattoos?

I'm like, well, I have, if I, I can't,

I could never cheat on

Damon at this point.

so um so yeah it's so funny

because when I got mine the

same guy did all the parts

of mine yeah and like I

would never go to anybody

else because I i love it so

much totally and I want to

finish the sleeve someday

too yeah mine's like up

over oh yeah cool and then

like into here and yeah but yeah

When you find a cool artist

like I almost I know that's

like I almost wish I had

only Damon's work like on

me like he incorporated his

into my old one that was

done by just some Joe Schmo

um but I wish that uh I

sort of wish it was just

Damon's work because he's

just like to me it's just

like so much better than my

original but anyway it's

life it's a journey.

I was going to do it the way you did it,

like piecemeal it and use

different artists.

You do not want to do that.

You want to go to the same

guy and make it because

nobody wants to work on

somebody else's artwork.

No.

And I feel like maybe you've

experienced this as well, but like.

I feel like the way Damon,

like he's such an artist that like,

I feel like what he draws

on me is like reflective of

our chats and like he gets

to know me and then know, like,

I don't know.

It's just like a different thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It becomes a relationship for sure.

Oh, big time.

Yeah.

So.

scrolling through your Instagram,

two other things stuck out to me.

Actually, like every time I got,

it was like another flip surprise, but,

um,

but I loved how your hair got shorter.

Yeah.

Like, and then bam, it goes really long.

Yeah.

Um,

but the other thing that surprised me

was you boxed.

I mean, once, yeah.

Are you that person that's like,

I'll try anything?

Or is that out of character for you?

The boxing thing.

So there's this cool event,

and it was organized by two

really cool guys named

Scott and Matt Whitaker

called Fight for the Cure.

And it was organized by them.

I forget when the first one was.

Eats.

several years ago,

and the intent of it was to

raise money for the city of like Ottawa,

Ontario is where I was living at the time,

but it was to raise money

for the Ottawa Cancer Foundation,

which is an organization

that just helps people deal with cancer.

So what it is,

it's called a white collar boxing match.

And they take,

it started off really small

and now it's huge.

So they take people from the

community and train them

from zero to like a fight.

It was nine months of

training twice a week.

um and you have to fundraise

the whole time and the goal

of it is to raise money for

this organization and the

fight is like a gala black

tie event at a cool venue a

table like it's fancy fancy

um and I just happen to and

you have to try out for it

but a lot of it is like who

you know and I just I kind of just

someone recommended me um

and like this again kind of

like the games like the

stars have to align because

they have to be able to

find a suitable opponent

for you that's within

certain age ranges and

weight but anyway it ended

up lining up for me to be a

part of this and I just

like anything I got really

into it and it was so cool

it was terrifying I didn't

particularly particularly enjoy boxing um

because it was very much

like I'm not very relaxed

and it was really like

boxing's like dancing where

I'm like I like to learn

how to clean and jerk

because you do this step by

step by step like you don't

have to interact with

another human um so I found

the training really hard in

the same way that I found

like scenario based

training for police work

really hard like I always

felt like I was acting

But then boxing,

like fight night came and I was like,

let's go, like it's game time.

And I brought it and I ended up like,

it was a really good match.

I ended up winning,

but like it was really close and awesome.

And it was probably the

coolest thing I've ever been a part of.

But after it, everyone's like,

so are you going to continue boxing?

And I'm just like, no, I'm not.

Like, I didn't really enjoy the sport.

But, like,

the event and the experience and

everything that I got out of it, like,

it was an unbelievable experience that,

like, I will never forget.

Up there with the games, like,

it was epic.

That's really cool.

It was super cool.

So how would you compare the

training for boxing with

the training of CrossFit?

The training,

so my CrossFit training

obviously really helped.

Like I was the fittest

person by far there.

The other guys had a lot of

catching up to do and they

did become much fitter over

the nine months.

I just added the boxing training on,

like onto my current training.

And I was also training for

a big weightlifting meet at

the time as well.

Boxers are extremely fit.

Like it blew my mind how, like it was very,

very hard work.

The fitness level of people

that fight is out of this world.

So if anything,

the boxing training really

helped my CrossFit training,

but my CrossFit training

helped my boxing training as well.

Not the fighting part of it,

but the fitness part of it for sure.

Yeah.

So we're up on the 30 minutes.

Gosh, I could talk to you all afternoon.

Yeah.

But I know you have a busy day going on.

How many are you taking

anybody with you to the games this year?

So I'm taking my coach.

Do you want to come say hey?

Oh, he's back.

He just walked in the door,

but he hates being on

camera or on video or in photos.

My coach for sure will come.

Last year,

my brother also came and one of

my super good friends, Sue,

she also came.

I would love both of them to come again.

I'm not sure.

either of them will be able to.

I hope they can.

I would prefer fewer people.

Like a lot of people bring

like their whole family.

I get really stressed out by

that because I feel like I

have to make sure

everyone's happy all the time.

So if it ends up just being my coach and I,

that's totally cool.

He is my business partner.

And so he knows we're just, we're close.

We're like family.

So that's just fine as well.

When you were at Legends,

were you by yourself?

When I was at Legends, no.

Actually, my same girl, Sue,

who came with me to the games,

also came with me to Legends.

So she was there as well.

But my coach didn't come to

Legends because I can't remember why.

I think he had to stay back because no one,

with the gym,

there was something with the gym,

so he couldn't get away.

But yeah, my girlfriend, Sue, was there.

Well,

the reason I ask is you didn't seem

nervous at all compared to

everybody else.

Yeah maybe like I've just

I've done a lot of

competing like I you know

like I've been doing

CrossFit for a lot of years

and I think it's just

because I've done a lot of

competing and you know this

isn't supposed to sound at

all negative but the games

like that I went to last year was like

there was there's no other

competition like it like

the attention to detail the

magnitude what I saw there

like it blew my mind like

so it almost and again not

in a negative makes all

other competitions seem not

as scary do you know what I

mean like but I always I've

always wanted to do legends

and I have for years but

just one sec john hey can

you just wait on that john

He was drilling.

I'm like, it's going to be too loud.

But yeah,

it just makes all the other

competitions seem a little

bit less scary.

But not that that's bad.

But yeah,

I didn't feel nervous for Legends.

I just was like excited to

be there because it's a

competition I've always wanted to do.

And because I had an invite,

I didn't have to do the qualifier.

So that was like such a bonus.

Oh man, online qualifiers are so hard.

Like the logistics of them.

Yeah, my co-host, Jamie, hates online.

I do too.

It almost makes it not worth

it because you go out,

like it happened to me a

couple of times in 2023

when I was qualifying for the games.

There was one workout at

least in quarters and

another workout in semis

where I had to redo them

because of something ridiculous.

Like the rower screen was

like blurry on the video,

like just something where

you're just like, oh man, like,

and everything has to be measured.

And like, what if the camera doesn't work?

Like, it's just,

it takes a bit of the fun out of it.

Like I really, really, really hope.

And like maybe this move, um,

with the legends guys taking over,

like it would be so cool if

we could qualify in person or online,

like depending on what your

needs or ability,

like if you could travel to qualify,

it would just be, it'd be cool.

So we've done some research into this,

the 35 to 49 year old

masters athletes have a

collective 3 million

followers on Instagram.

Yeah.

Like that's a lot of eyes.

I know.

If we can just get them all to this event.

Yeah.

Labor Day weekend.

Yeah.

To come, to watch, do whatever they can.

Yeah.

And show that this can be a big festival.

Yeah, and, like, I mean,

let's be serious here.

Like, it's different.

It's different than the games,

the individuals.

Like, it's a different thing,

and you almost can't compare it.

Like,

but it doesn't mean that it's not

significant to a large number of people.

And, like, we're masters.

Like, we have...

Most of us,

we have some disposable income available.

I would guess that the

majority of Masters would

so much rather travel to

qualify for the games in

person somewhere than do it at home.

I just think there's so much

that can be done with it.

And I really,

really hope that this move

with Legends will be

pushing that in that direction.

Yeah.

And for the spectators of

the games this year,

the barrier to entry is so

much less than it is.

Yeah.

It's cheaper to go to this

event than it is to go to the games.

Yeah, totally.

So, yeah, you're not watching Jeff Adler,

but you're still getting to

watch Will Morad,

and you're still getting to watch...

Totally.

So, well,

I wish and I maybe they are I don't know.

I wish that CrossFit or I don't know who,

maybe I'm saying it wrong

but I wish that CrossFit or

someone could do almost like a

know like in the nhl

sometimes they do like the

old timers they bring back

like there's so many

amazing masters athletes

and I think for a lot of

years it almost feels like

oh like masters like it's

lame or whatever like I'm

not gonna do the masters

but there's so many good x

games athletes now that

like it would be so sick if

they'd all come out and and

and and compete like it'd be awesome

Your division's stacked with

former games athletes.

Oh, man.

And the 35 to 39.

And if the games, as the individual ones,

age out kind of and then become Masters,

it's only just going to get

better if everyone wants to

stay involved.

I just think it's going to

just get better and better and better.

That's my hope anyway.

Well,

the 40 to 44-year-old division has

three former podium winners.

Totally.

Oh man.

Last year, my division, like the 10 of us,

it was all like, it was like Sam Briggs,

Becca Voigt, Miller.

Like it was all these legit beasts.

Like it was just,

it was so cool to be there

with those girls.

Like anyway.

Yeah.

It was awesome.

Yeah.

Well,

I want to thank you for taking time

out of a busy day, moving your gym,

and still doing this with us.

We're going to be in Birmingham.

We got permission to do a

full behind-the-scenes documentary.

Sweet.

Ellie Hiller and myself will be backstage.

Cool.

Chatting with you guys in the warm-up area,

the corral.

Amazing.

And we're going to put

together a really cool

documentary after the fact

for you guys to be able to go back.

That's amazing.

Well, from the bottom of my heart,

thank you for caring so

much about the Masters athletes.

I think some, you know,

there's a vibe that like, oh,

no one cares about Masters.

I know that's not true,

but things like this really

help in getting content out there.

So thank you very much for

doing these interviews and

for coming and having a

vested interest in all of us.

It's awesome.

Well, thank you, Megan.

It was a joy meeting you last year.

Can't wait to see you again this year.

Likewise.

Good luck on the move.

Thank you.

And we'll see you really, really soon.

Thank you so much.

I'll see you soon.

All right.

With that, everybody,

thank you in the chat for being here.

Thank you for watching.

And we'll be back next time

on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.

Bye, guys.