ALCHEMY BRANTFORD OPEN 2024 WRAP UP
By Duncan McNeill of ACF
The 2024 Alchemy Open has come to an end and as always we are so proud of the way our community showed up over the 3 weeks.
It was our most successful Friday Night Lights in terms of the number of participants and on top of this, we were blown away by the amount of family members and friends that came out every week. When we opened in Brantford in 2019 there was a lot of skepticism around the Open. Fast-forward 5 years and we had more than 2 out of 3 members sign up and participate in the event! It is such an amazing thing to witness as it shows the growth from ‘I am not good enough to do something like this’ to ‘I am excited to celebrate where I am at’.
Each week was again handled and decorated by one of our Alchemy Open teams and WOW was the outcome above and beyond again. Starting with the Blue Bandits barnyard to a full Red Alert and finishing with the Black Ops the gym looked amazing! Thank you to all the captains and volunteers that contributed to making the night look special and run smoothly.
In week 1 we had a lot of stand out efforts with many people electing to use some heavier weights than they ever had. For me the performance of the night was still Tracy A. who absolutely smashed pretty much everybody’s time, finishing the workout in under 10 minutes!
Week 2 we got to row and double unders and deadlift. Shout out to Coach Broder for getting us prepared with weeks of row training, as this was our best workout vs. the world collectively as a team. It was cool to watch all the capacity we had built up shine through. In the final week we got to see some gymnastics skills be put to the test. As difficult as this workout was, watching many people get their first, or more pullups than they ever thought possible in a workout is the stuff we love the Open for. The competition floor can really bring out the best of us and that was evident again this year!
The Open is so much more than a competition. It is the time of year when bonds are strengthened and new friendship’s are made as we work together through a common goal and challenge. Being able to do this in front of dozens of family and friend’s makes it all the more special!
Until next year, thanks again!