WOD for Water raises over $120k

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Laura Poole works out on  a stationary  bicycle while WOD for Water judge Joey Johnson  watches.

Laura Poole works out on a stationary bicycle while WOD for Water judge Joey Johnson
watches.

Nearly 40 teams competed in Saturday’s WOD for Water event to raise money to provide access to clean water for people across the globe.

This year’s event officially brought in more than $121,000, which means that “WOD for Water Troy” has raised more than $300,000 over the five years that the event has been held.

“I think we were all in shock, honestly,” said event organizer Jason Jones. “The $100,000 goal was a lot of money. To go through it and bypass it as much as we did was really a shocker.”

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Jones said that the money will go to build 18 wells in India, six in Cambodia, two in South Sudan and one in Nepal. It will also fund 26 bio-sand filters that will allow for water treatment in South Sudan and Sudan.

“One of the really cool things is one of the South Sudan wells is planned to go at the school that Andrew Mohandis is starting, which is partially paid for by the Troy Rotary Club,” Jones said.

Mohandis is a Troy alumnus from South Sudan. Troy University sororities Alpha Gamma Delta, Phi Mu and Kappa Delta contributed a total of $18,000 to the goal.

“It’s great to see the university getting involved with what we’re doing,” Jones said.

Rachael Thibodeaux, a member of the winning team in the RX Female division of the competition spoke about how the fundraising aspect of the event drives competitors.

“That is what motivates a lot of people,” Thibodeaux said. “I think going in knowing that you’re doing it for a bigger purpose kind of drives you. When you’re getting tired, you think about the people you’re raising money for. It’s cool knowing that small thing that you’re doing brings a big impact to the world.”

There were two levels of competition at the event, RX and Scaled, and each level was split into male and female divisions.

Thibodeaux and her teammate Janet Chisholm, together known as “Team Pathology,” won the RX Female competition by two points over CrossFit Ashford. Thibodeaux and Chisholm represented JH CrossFit, a CrossFit gym in Mobile.

Thibodeaux described what it takes to win a competition like this.

“We’ve been training together for a little over a year now, so we’ve been putting in a lot of work,” Thibodeaux said. “It takes a lot of hard work, and you’ve also got to love to do it.”

Originally from Montgomery, Thibodeaux has been competing at the event ever since it started in 2012 when Thibodeaux was a student at Troy University. At that time, the event was for beginners so Thibodeaux and her roommate signed up.

“It’s really cool to see how it’s grown,” Thibodeaux said. “I started CrossFit around that same time, so I was definitely a beginner. That’s around the time that Troy was getting introduced to CrossFit.”

“All In CrossFit” won the RX Male division, taking first place in all four of the competition’s categories.

“Frank and Bean” of CrossFit Embrace took first place in the Scaled Male division, edging out CrossFit Ilium’s “We Rx’d the warm up” by a point.

“99 Problems and Recovery Is One” of CrossFit Ilium finished first in the Scaled Female division, beating out “Mom Jeans and Squat Cleans” of CrossFit Embrace by one point.

Donations to WOD for Water can be made year-round at www.wodforwatertroy.com.