Monday, June 29, 2015

Opening a Community

Aptos, California, is located just south of Santa Cruz, where the first CrossFit gym was opened by CrossFit Inc. Founder and CEO Greg Glassman. A quiet beach community, Aptos was once one of just a few towns on the coastline of Santa Cruz County that wasn’t home to a CrossFit affiliate. That changed in January when Level 1 Seminar Staff member and longtime CrossFit athlete Zac Pine made his dream come true and opened CrossFit Aptos.

Prior to finding a location, Pine began to build the base of a community through beach and park workouts. Once he found a location, Pine and his friends and family spent countless hours getting the space ready for opening day. There were challenges along the way, Pine says, such as dealing with an old building with no studs in the wall. But hard work pays off, and the reward is an outstanding and growing community.

“That community feeling is there right from the get-go,” says member Chris Caris.

Member Colette Matthews agrees.

“(CrossFit Aptos) is definitely a place to come to and meet friends. … It’s definitely a big community,” she says.

The name “Aptos” is Ohlone, meaning “the people.” Quite fittingly, the people are what make CrossFit Aptos a community.

Video by Dave Leys.

13min 19sec

Additional reading: Virtuosity 7: One Spirit by Robin Blackburn, published April 26, 2015.

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