June 24, 2025 • 17 mins
There are friendships that defy expectations—bonds between people who, on paper, shouldn't connect. Yet these unexpected relationships often teach us the most profound lessons. My friendship with Stephen Rice was exactly that kind of connection.
Steve passed away on April 8, 2025, after suffering an unexpected stroke. Though we primarily knew each other from CrossFit Bison, rarely seeing each other outside the gym, we shared one extraordinary experience that exemplified who Steve truly was. This remembrance isn't just about grief—it's about celebrating a remarkable human being through the lens of our unlikely friendship.
#InMemoryOfSteve #FriendshipTribute #CrossFitCommunity #LegacyOfLove
#GoneButNotForgotten #CelebrateLife #CherishedMemories #InspirationalStories #FitnessFamily #HeartfeltTribute
@asburyparksummergames #BotoxAndBurpees @crossfittraining @crossfit @crossfitgames #crossfit #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #agoq #clean #fitness #ItAllStartsHere #CrossFitOpen #CrossFit #CrossFitCommunity #apgames
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Sam Rhee (00:04):
My name is Sam Rhee and this is my remembrance of my
friend, stephen Rice, whopassed away on April 8, 2025,
after suffering an unexpectedstroke.
My condolences to his wife,christine, his two sons, connor
and Logan, and his close friendsand family.
Steve was a friend of mine, aCrossFit bison gym friend.
I know there are a lot ofpeople who knew Steve much
(00:27):
better than me who have alreadypaid tribute to him.
I rarely saw Steve outside ofbison, if ever, and in many ways
our lives could not be moredifferent.
But there is one great memory Ishared with Stevie, one that
few know about.
I want to remember Steve and toshare that memory with others
and to add it to his legacy.
As I said outside the gym, Idid not know Steve Rice that
(00:50):
well.
I knew he worked nights for alocal water utility company and
Steve lived in Midland Park, notfar from the gym.
I did know he was all aboutthings Irish, including Notre
Dame football.
He was also a Chicago Cubs andBears fan.
But most importantly, I know hecared deeply about his family,
(01:10):
particularly his two sons andtheir sports.
He coached his sons in theiryouth sports and that was
something that over the pastseveral years had been taking
more and more of his time and inthe past year or two he started
bringing his older son, connor,to the gym.
And out of the many high two,he started bringing his older
son, connor, to the gym.
And out of the many high schoolkids who would drop into Bison,
(01:30):
connor was always quiet butsmiling and so positive.
I could tell how proud Stevewas of his son and how much he
loved him and how much Connorloved his dad.
There wasn't another father outthere that loved his kids more
than Steve did.
Now, regarding the morewhimsical side of Steve, I also
knew he really enjoyed beer.
He knew how to have a good timeand I recently asked a couple
(01:52):
gym people what his favoritebeer was, but they couldn't
remember.
I think he was prettynon-denominational when it came
to brand preference but, beingIrish, I would guess he would
never say no to a well-pouredGuinness Ever.
Because he worked nights.
Stevie was a midday gym classguy and he was not small, over
(02:14):
six feet and well over 200pounds.
He played rugby in college andhe looked every inch of it.
He started at Bison a couplemonths before I got there in
2014, and he could put up greatlift numbers with the barbell.
He was, surprisingly, not badwith the cardio pieces either.
Of course, everyone knew howmuch he hated burpees and, given
his build, who could blame him?
(02:34):
And what sane person reallyloves burpees anyway?
I remember many classes,especially back in the day.
He would get there a littleearly, wrap his ankles or knees
and he would look a littlecreaky or tired.
I never knew what was going onin his life.
If he had troubles, worries orcares outside of the gym, there
(02:54):
might have been a passing shadowon his face as he started to
warm up, but then they woulddisappear as he started to focus
on the workout.
It might take Steve a littlewhile to get going, but once he
shifted out of first gear hewould build up a head of steam
and he could work his waythrough many CrossFit wads in a
manner you would never haveguessed he was capable of.
(03:15):
The most vivid memory of StevieI have is when we did a CrossFit
competition together back whenwe were both a whole lot younger
.
This was June of 2017.
I don't know who suggested thatStevie and I team up to do this
competition.
We had both started just acouple years ago and had very
little CrossFit competitionexperience.
I think it was Dave Syvertonwho suggested we join forces.
(03:38):
This was one of the first bigCrossFit comps in the area that
had a 40 and over division andso we wouldn't have to compete
against the younger athletes.
Thankfully, this CrossFit compsin the area that had a 40 and
over division and so we wouldn'thave to compete against the
younger athletes.
Thankfully, this CrossFitcompetition Stevie and I did was
the first year of the AsburyPark Summer Games.
Nowadays this competition isquite the extravaganza with many
elite athletes competing.
(03:59):
It's a huge event and it'sbecome a signature CrossFit
blowout affair every summer.
And this year they ran ran sixdivisions of athletes and it
lasted three whole days, whichis unheard of for a quote local
competition.
But back then it was a one-daycomp and anyone could sign up.
There was no qualifying and alot of the local OG CrossFit
(04:20):
athletes did it, including manyfrom our gym.
Gavin Cunio was there, theBryson Brawlers had Dan Mazzina
and Marek Kirilko.
Aaron and his brother Dave hadthe awesome and imaginative team
name CrossFit Bison.
Owen Morrissey was part ofBison Strong, which sounded more
like hope and less of astatement, and Brian DiCarlo was
(04:43):
part of the necessary thicknessteam.
There were some othercompetitors there too who are
now part of CrossFit BisonCrossFit Games athlete Tracy
McGee she was part of Team Momand Me Coach Bobby Wallum, who
competed with Joe Piero.
Their team name was Big andLittle, which, interestingly
enough, does not actuallyreference their different
heights and weights.
By the way, if you're watchingthis episode on YouTube, you'll
(05:06):
see a lot of the photographsfrom the competition from
professional photographer andfriend Jose Fernandez of Jfz
photography.
So thank you, jose, for thoseamazing photographs.
They bring back so many specialmemories.
Anyway, we were excited formonths before the comp actually
started.
Stevie came up with our teamname bison master blaster.
It's from an 80s movie, mad maxbeyond thunderdome, starring
(05:31):
mel gibson, in apost-apocalyptic wasteland where
there was a pair of characterswho were always together.
One was this little person whosat on the shoulders of this
giant, hence the name Master andBlaster.
One was supposedly the brainsand the other the brawn.
Well, in this case, stevie wasprobably the smart one too, but
(05:51):
based on our physical sizes, itwasn't hard to figure out which
one of us was the master andwhich one of us was the blaster.
In fact, steve even hadt-shirts made up for us for the
comp, with Master Blaster on theback.
I wish I still had this t-shirt, but unfortunately it's gone,
the way of so many of my oldbeat-up CrossFit shirts.
(06:16):
We didn't really train too much.
I think we got together once ortwice on the weekends before
the comp, but it wasn't anythingformal and we weren't elite
athletes or anything.
We just wanted to have fun andwork out down near the beach
with our friends.
We met up that morning of thecompetition down in Asbury Park
and we were amazed by the setup.
We had never seen anything likethis at a comp before Huge
indoor arena, neon lights, aprofessional DJ that kept the
(06:36):
music going.
We felt like we were at theCrossFit Games themselves.
It was so fancy.
And then we started feeling thenerves.
There was a large enclosedarena with circular seating all
around it.
It felt like the Coliseum,straight from the movie
Gladiator, and we just neededRussell Crowe to yell out Are
you not entertained?
(06:56):
We didn't have much time tosightsee with a comps-tight
schedule, so Steve and I gotright to work on WOD 1.
Eight minutes to establish thefollowing Partner A one rep max
snatch.
Partner B one rep max clean andjerk Weight could not be
decreased once it had beenloaded onto the bar, which means
if you failed you couldn't goback down to a lighter weight.
You either made it or youdidn't.
(07:22):
And I remember discussing thiswith Stevie and it was an
obvious master blaster situationwhere my master weight in the
snatch would have to be carriedby his blaster clean number.
I managed 125, which was a PRfor me at the time, and Steve
hit 260 for his clean for atotal number of 385.
So for Team Master Blaster thatnumber was good enough for us
to take fourth place in theevent and that was a pleasant
(07:45):
surprise.
Maybe we didn't completelystink at this.
The second WOD was a 10 minuteAMRAP for which the 40 plus
men's division had an assaultbike for 10 cals, 10 burpees
over bar and then 10 thrusters.
Each round of this the thrusterweight would go up.
So it started with 75 pounds.
Then the next round thethrusters were at 95 pounds.
(08:08):
The third round was at 115,then 135, and then 155.
I don't remember exactly how wesplit the reps, but I think for
each round one of us would dothe entire 10 cals of the bike,
then I'd do most of the burpeesover bar and then we would split
the lighter thrusters at 75, 95, and 115.
I did more of the lighter 75and 95 pound thrusters and then
(08:32):
Stevie took over completely atthe 135 and 155.
Then Stevie took overcompletely at the 135 and 155.
We got through all five rounds,which was the entire thruster
ladder, including 10 at 155, andthen six more assault bike cals
on top of that, which was goodenough for third place.
So this master blaster comboseemed to be working for us.
The third and fourth wads wentsimultaneously.
(08:55):
Partner one would do a deadliftand knee raise rep ladder for
three minutes two deadlifts, twoknee raises, then four
deadlifts, four knee raises,then six and so on for three
minutes.
While partner one was doingthis, partner two would be doing
max calorie row for threeminutes at the same time.
(09:15):
After three minutes thepartners would switch and
partner one would start rowingand partner two would switch
from the rower and continue thedeadlift e-races ladder.
Now I don't remember, but Ihave a feeling that Stevie rode
the first three minutes while Idid the ladder and then I rode
second and somehow we crushedthe first three minutes and got
(09:36):
192 reps, which was first place,and then I wrote second and
somehow we crushed the firstthree minutes and got 192 reps,
which was first place, and thenfor the second three minutes,
stevie and I fell back down toearth and got 111 reps, but that
was still good enough forfourth place in our division.
So all of these wads were ablur and I don't really remember
that much, except that it wasunder the bright lights.
The adrenaline really got usjuiced up and Stevie and I
(09:57):
really poured our hearts outinto each WOD.
Like I said, neither of us wereelite athletes, not even close.
But there's something to besaid for pushing yourself to
your limits in a competitivesituation that strengthens the
mind and body.
It's a feeling unlike any other.
Cheering everyone else frombison, watching everyone give
(10:18):
their max effort, it's always aspecial feeling and this one was
even more so because of how bigthe event was and how many of
our friends were there to cheerus on.
So after these four WODs, wewere sitting in fourth place for
our division and Steve and Iwere happy to have had a
respectable showing and it hadbeen a long day.
So Steve and I hugged, wehigh-fived, we were ready to
(10:40):
make our drive back to MidlandPark.
Stevie packed up his wheeliecooler, started making his way
out of the arena and thensomeone stopped me I think it
was Dave and he told me thatthere was a playoff wad.
A playoff wad, yes.
Four top teams of each divisionwould continue in one more
workout and then the top threewould podium, and this was
(11:02):
something we didn't know about.
So I caught up with Steve and Itold him the news and if I
wasn't thrilled about hearingthis information, stevie was
really not happy to hear it.
He didn't want to do it.
He said it didn't matter, weshould just call it a day.
There were a bunch of beers inhis cooler that were calling out
to him.
It was definitely Miller timeand he was particularly unhappy
(11:22):
because this playoff WODinvolved a lot of pull-ups.
There's no actual record of theplayoff WOD itself and I even
checked with the competitionrunners themselves and they
can't even remember what theyprogrammed.
But from asking the othercompetitors, they do remember
the WOD having sets of pull-ups.
Rx competitors had chest-to-barand bar muscle-ups, there were
(11:44):
deadlifts or maybe deadlift highpulls, more pull-ups paired
with front squats and then evenmore pull-ups with overhead
squats.
So, whatever it really was,there was definitely a ton of
pull-ups for our division and assoon as Stevie heard that he
said forget it, there's no wayhe was going to do more pull-ups
.
I begged Stevie to just give ita try.
I said let's just see what wecould do, and it didn't matter
(12:07):
if we did well or not and itwouldn't take that long.
I told him I would do thepull-ups, he could do the other
movements, and I don't rememberwhat else I said, but somehow I
managed to convince Steve tocome back to the arena and get
ready for the workout.
The only actual memories I haveof that final workout is that I
(12:28):
did more pull-ups than I've everdone in my life.
Our judge was pretty strictabout getting that chin over the
bar and I remember that I couldtell she felt bad when she had
to start no-repping me when Istarted failing and I am
positive I looked like a floppy,half-dead duck trying to pull
myself up onto that bar.
I also remember that early inthe WOD Stevie actually did more
pull-ups than either he or Iexpected.
(12:49):
I'd be sitting there restingand he'd come over and do a
couple and help me out, and Idon't think I did any of the
deadlifts.
Maybe I helped out on the frontsquats or overhead squats, but
I just can't remember.
I just remember that when weran to the end of the finish
line I felt like complete death,and that was pretty much it.
(13:10):
We high-fived, we were happy,we got through it.
It was a tremendous moralvictory.
And so while we sat there on thesidelines after the WOD all
crumpled up, they startedannouncing the podium winners,
and then they got to ourdivision.
In first place was AtomicGangsta Mastas from Shrewsbury
CrossFit and in second place,from CrossFit 908, was Maverick
(13:30):
and Goose and, to Steve and me'scomplete and utter surprise, we
somehow took third place BisonMaster Blaster from CrossFit
Bison.
You will not find a moresurprised team at podium than we
were that day.
How we beat these othertremendous and famous well-known
CrossFit teams, such as Mastersof the Universe, starsky and
(13:54):
Hutch and Ageless Pex, iscompletely beyond me.
That is what made that day sospecial.
The two of us could not be moredifferent in so many ways Our
physical differences, how wegrew up, what we did, who we
were.
Steve and I were about asdifferent as chalk and cheese,
as the saying goes.
(14:14):
We were truly the oddest masterand blaster duo, and yet we
managed to team up and find away to hang on and grit our way
to the award platform, and noone was more proud than Stephen
Rice that day.
He was absolutely giddy when wetook that stage.
I think the reason he was sohappy is that it really showed
(14:37):
we could hang with some greatathletes and, more importantly,
he brought everything he hadthat day and the fact that it
resulted in an award thatreflected that effort validated
everything we did.
It was really special for bothhim and me.
Afterwards, everyone headed overto the post-comp party at Sue
Walsh's place, which was at thecutest little cottage nearby at
(15:00):
Avon-by-the-Sea.
We broke open all the alcoholand drank and drank, and drank.
My arms and upper back werealready starting to really ache
and I honestly believe I hadrhabdo and if I didn't have
rhabdo it was probably theclosest I've ever been to
getting it After a full day ofworking out five bajillion extra
(15:20):
pull-ups, no hydration, thenjust trying to keep up with
Stevie's liquid consumption.
Afterwards I was very lucky Idid not sustain permanent bodily
harm and even so my arms,shoulders and back were like
puffy wood for two weeks.
But ever since that comp,anytime Steve and I would see
(15:41):
each other at the gym, we'dhigh-five, called each other
partner.
It was really special.
Now, we never competed again.
After that I did a couple morecomps, but that comp with Stevie
was the best.
I also believe it will remainas the most special athletic
experience in my life.
It was simply a pure experienceof two guys, no sporting
(16:02):
ambitions, just showed up, gaveeverything they had and
surprised themselves with whatthey could do.
I could not have asked foranything more with my partner.
I'm now 55, soon to be 56 yearsold, and, like a lot of people
as they go through life, ourthoughts and focus turn more to
not just the daily tasks at hand, but trying to uncover and
(16:24):
discover what makes lifemeaningful for us.
What are the things mostimportant to us now?
What lessons can I learn fromStephen Rice and his life lived?
I think a lot about Steve, howspecial he was and how short our
time on earth really is.
Steve was a good human being,which means he was a
transcendent and great humanbeing, and for one day, steve
(16:48):
and I elevated ourselves andbecame more than what we
expected, and that was apowerful lesson.
I want to thank Steve for makingme a better person, and now,
every time I have a drink, evenif these days it's a
non-alcoholic beer, which I knowStevie would probably say what
the fuck?
If he saw me.
I toast the big man silentlyand think of him.
I was given the gift of moretime on earth than what Steve
(17:11):
got.
It means I had better make sureI don't waste it.
Thank you, steve.
I love you and I won't forgetyou.
Steve, I love you and I won'tforget you.
Partner.
My name is Sam Rhee and this is my remembrance of my
friend, stephen Rice, whopassed away on April 8, 2025,
after suffering an unexpectedstroke.
My condolences to his wife,christine, his two sons, connor
and Logan, and his close friendsand family.
Steve was a friend of mine, aCrossFit bison gym friend.
I know there are a lot ofpeople who knew Steve much
(00:27):
better than me who have alreadypaid tribute to him.
I rarely saw Steve outside ofbison, if ever, and in many ways
our lives could not be moredifferent.
But there is one great memory Ishared with Stevie, one that
few know about.
I want to remember Steve and toshare that memory with others
and to add it to his legacy.
As I said outside the gym, Idid not know Steve Rice that
(00:50):
well.
I knew he worked nights for alocal water utility company and
Steve lived in Midland Park, notfar from the gym.
I did know he was all aboutthings Irish, including Notre
Dame football.
He was also a Chicago Cubs andBears fan.
But most importantly, I know hecared deeply about his family,
(01:10):
particularly his two sons andtheir sports.
He coached his sons in theiryouth sports and that was
something that over the pastseveral years had been taking
more and more of his time and inthe past year or two he started
bringing his older son, connor,to the gym.
And out of the many high two,he started bringing his older
son, connor, to the gym.
And out of the many high schoolkids who would drop into Bison,
(01:30):
connor was always quiet butsmiling and so positive.
I could tell how proud Stevewas of his son and how much he
loved him and how much Connorloved his dad.
There wasn't another father outthere that loved his kids more
than Steve did.
Now, regarding the morewhimsical side of Steve, I also
knew he really enjoyed beer.
He knew how to have a good timeand I recently asked a couple
(01:52):
gym people what his favoritebeer was, but they couldn't
remember.
I think he was prettynon-denominational when it came
to brand preference but, beingIrish, I would guess he would
never say no to a well-pouredGuinness Ever.
Because he worked nights.
Stevie was a midday gym classguy and he was not small, over
(02:14):
six feet and well over 200pounds.
He played rugby in college andhe looked every inch of it.
He started at Bison a couplemonths before I got there in
2014, and he could put up greatlift numbers with the barbell.
He was, surprisingly, not badwith the cardio pieces either.
Of course, everyone knew howmuch he hated burpees and, given
his build, who could blame him?
(02:34):
And what sane person reallyloves burpees anyway?
I remember many classes,especially back in the day.
He would get there a littleearly, wrap his ankles or knees
and he would look a littlecreaky or tired.
I never knew what was going onin his life.
If he had troubles, worries orcares outside of the gym, there
(02:54):
might have been a passing shadowon his face as he started to
warm up, but then they woulddisappear as he started to focus
on the workout.
It might take Steve a littlewhile to get going, but once he
shifted out of first gear hewould build up a head of steam
and he could work his waythrough many CrossFit wads in a
manner you would never haveguessed he was capable of.
(03:15):
The most vivid memory of StevieI have is when we did a CrossFit
competition together back whenwe were both a whole lot younger
.
This was June of 2017.
I don't know who suggested thatStevie and I team up to do this
competition.
We had both started just acouple years ago and had very
little CrossFit competitionexperience.
I think it was Dave Syvertonwho suggested we join forces.
(03:38):
This was one of the first bigCrossFit comps in the area that
had a 40 and over division andso we wouldn't have to compete
against the younger athletes.
Thankfully, this CrossFit compsin the area that had a 40 and
over division and so we wouldn'thave to compete against the
younger athletes.
Thankfully, this CrossFitcompetition Stevie and I did was
the first year of the AsburyPark Summer Games.
Nowadays this competition isquite the extravaganza with many
elite athletes competing.
(03:59):
It's a huge event and it'sbecome a signature CrossFit
blowout affair every summer.
And this year they ran ran sixdivisions of athletes and it
lasted three whole days, whichis unheard of for a quote local
competition.
But back then it was a one-daycomp and anyone could sign up.
There was no qualifying and alot of the local OG CrossFit
(04:20):
athletes did it, including manyfrom our gym.
Gavin Cunio was there, theBryson Brawlers had Dan Mazzina
and Marek Kirilko.
Aaron and his brother Dave hadthe awesome and imaginative team
name CrossFit Bison.
Owen Morrissey was part ofBison Strong, which sounded more
like hope and less of astatement, and Brian DiCarlo was
(04:43):
part of the necessary thicknessteam.
There were some othercompetitors there too who are
now part of CrossFit BisonCrossFit Games athlete Tracy
McGee she was part of Team Momand Me Coach Bobby Wallum, who
competed with Joe Piero.
Their team name was Big andLittle, which, interestingly
enough, does not actuallyreference their different
heights and weights.
By the way, if you're watchingthis episode on YouTube, you'll
(05:06):
see a lot of the photographsfrom the competition from
professional photographer andfriend Jose Fernandez of Jfz
photography.
So thank you, jose, for thoseamazing photographs.
They bring back so many specialmemories.
Anyway, we were excited formonths before the comp actually
started.
Stevie came up with our teamname bison master blaster.
It's from an 80s movie, mad maxbeyond thunderdome, starring
(05:31):
mel gibson, in apost-apocalyptic wasteland where
there was a pair of characterswho were always together.
One was this little person whosat on the shoulders of this
giant, hence the name Master andBlaster.
One was supposedly the brainsand the other the brawn.
Well, in this case, stevie wasprobably the smart one too, but
(05:51):
based on our physical sizes, itwasn't hard to figure out which
one of us was the master andwhich one of us was the blaster.
In fact, steve even hadt-shirts made up for us for the
comp, with Master Blaster on theback.
I wish I still had this t-shirt, but unfortunately it's gone,
the way of so many of my oldbeat-up CrossFit shirts.
(06:16):
We didn't really train too much.
I think we got together once ortwice on the weekends before
the comp, but it wasn't anythingformal and we weren't elite
athletes or anything.
We just wanted to have fun andwork out down near the beach
with our friends.
We met up that morning of thecompetition down in Asbury Park
and we were amazed by the setup.
We had never seen anything likethis at a comp before Huge
indoor arena, neon lights, aprofessional DJ that kept the
(06:36):
music going.
We felt like we were at theCrossFit Games themselves.
It was so fancy.
And then we started feeling thenerves.
There was a large enclosedarena with circular seating all
around it.
It felt like the Coliseum,straight from the movie
Gladiator, and we just neededRussell Crowe to yell out Are
you not entertained?
(06:56):
We didn't have much time tosightsee with a comps-tight
schedule, so Steve and I gotright to work on WOD 1.
Eight minutes to establish thefollowing Partner A one rep max
snatch.
Partner B one rep max clean andjerk Weight could not be
decreased once it had beenloaded onto the bar, which means
if you failed you couldn't goback down to a lighter weight.
You either made it or youdidn't.
(07:22):
And I remember discussing thiswith Stevie and it was an
obvious master blaster situationwhere my master weight in the
snatch would have to be carriedby his blaster clean number.
I managed 125, which was a PRfor me at the time, and Steve
hit 260 for his clean for atotal number of 385.
So for Team Master Blaster thatnumber was good enough for us
to take fourth place in theevent and that was a pleasant
(07:45):
surprise.
Maybe we didn't completelystink at this.
The second WOD was a 10 minuteAMRAP for which the 40 plus
men's division had an assaultbike for 10 cals, 10 burpees
over bar and then 10 thrusters.
Each round of this the thrusterweight would go up.
So it started with 75 pounds.
Then the next round thethrusters were at 95 pounds.
(08:08):
The third round was at 115,then 135, and then 155.
I don't remember exactly how wesplit the reps, but I think for
each round one of us would dothe entire 10 cals of the bike,
then I'd do most of the burpeesover bar and then we would split
the lighter thrusters at 75, 95, and 115.
I did more of the lighter 75and 95 pound thrusters and then
(08:32):
Stevie took over completely atthe 135 and 155.
Then Stevie took overcompletely at the 135 and 155.
We got through all five rounds,which was the entire thruster
ladder, including 10 at 155, andthen six more assault bike cals
on top of that, which was goodenough for third place.
So this master blaster comboseemed to be working for us.
The third and fourth wads wentsimultaneously.
(08:55):
Partner one would do a deadliftand knee raise rep ladder for
three minutes two deadlifts, twoknee raises, then four
deadlifts, four knee raises,then six and so on for three
minutes.
While partner one was doingthis, partner two would be doing
max calorie row for threeminutes at the same time.
(09:15):
After three minutes thepartners would switch and
partner one would start rowingand partner two would switch
from the rower and continue thedeadlift e-races ladder.
Now I don't remember, but Ihave a feeling that Stevie rode
the first three minutes while Idid the ladder and then I rode
second and somehow we crushedthe first three minutes and got
(09:36):
192 reps, which was first place,and then I wrote second and
somehow we crushed the firstthree minutes and got 192 reps,
which was first place, and thenfor the second three minutes,
stevie and I fell back down toearth and got 111 reps, but that
was still good enough forfourth place in our division.
So all of these wads were ablur and I don't really remember
that much, except that it wasunder the bright lights.
The adrenaline really got usjuiced up and Stevie and I
(09:57):
really poured our hearts outinto each WOD.
Like I said, neither of us wereelite athletes, not even close.
But there's something to besaid for pushing yourself to
your limits in a competitivesituation that strengthens the
mind and body.
It's a feeling unlike any other.
Cheering everyone else frombison, watching everyone give
(10:18):
their max effort, it's always aspecial feeling and this one was
even more so because of how bigthe event was and how many of
our friends were there to cheerus on.
So after these four WODs, wewere sitting in fourth place for
our division and Steve and Iwere happy to have had a
respectable showing and it hadbeen a long day.
So Steve and I hugged, wehigh-fived, we were ready to
(10:40):
make our drive back to MidlandPark.
Stevie packed up his wheeliecooler, started making his way
out of the arena and thensomeone stopped me I think it
was Dave and he told me thatthere was a playoff wad.
A playoff wad, yes.
Four top teams of each divisionwould continue in one more
workout and then the top threewould podium, and this was
(11:02):
something we didn't know about.
So I caught up with Steve and Itold him the news and if I
wasn't thrilled about hearingthis information, stevie was
really not happy to hear it.
He didn't want to do it.
He said it didn't matter, weshould just call it a day.
There were a bunch of beers inhis cooler that were calling out
to him.
It was definitely Miller timeand he was particularly unhappy
(11:22):
because this playoff WODinvolved a lot of pull-ups.
There's no actual record of theplayoff WOD itself and I even
checked with the competitionrunners themselves and they
can't even remember what theyprogrammed.
But from asking the othercompetitors, they do remember
the WOD having sets of pull-ups.
Rx competitors had chest-to-barand bar muscle-ups, there were
(11:44):
deadlifts or maybe deadlift highpulls, more pull-ups paired
with front squats and then evenmore pull-ups with overhead
squats.
So, whatever it really was,there was definitely a ton of
pull-ups for our division and assoon as Stevie heard that he
said forget it, there's no wayhe was going to do more pull-ups
.
I begged Stevie to just give ita try.
I said let's just see what wecould do, and it didn't matter
(12:07):
if we did well or not and itwouldn't take that long.
I told him I would do thepull-ups, he could do the other
movements, and I don't rememberwhat else I said, but somehow I
managed to convince Steve tocome back to the arena and get
ready for the workout.
The only actual memories I haveof that final workout is that I
(12:28):
did more pull-ups than I've everdone in my life.
Our judge was pretty strictabout getting that chin over the
bar and I remember that I couldtell she felt bad when she had
to start no-repping me when Istarted failing and I am
positive I looked like a floppy,half-dead duck trying to pull
myself up onto that bar.
I also remember that early inthe WOD Stevie actually did more
pull-ups than either he or Iexpected.
(12:49):
I'd be sitting there restingand he'd come over and do a
couple and help me out, and Idon't think I did any of the
deadlifts.
Maybe I helped out on the frontsquats or overhead squats, but
I just can't remember.
I just remember that when weran to the end of the finish
line I felt like complete death,and that was pretty much it.
(13:10):
We high-fived, we were happy,we got through it.
It was a tremendous moralvictory.
And so while we sat there on thesidelines after the WOD all
crumpled up, they startedannouncing the podium winners,
and then they got to ourdivision.
In first place was AtomicGangsta Mastas from Shrewsbury
CrossFit and in second place,from CrossFit 908, was Maverick
(13:30):
and Goose and, to Steve and me'scomplete and utter surprise, we
somehow took third place BisonMaster Blaster from CrossFit
Bison.
You will not find a moresurprised team at podium than we
were that day.
How we beat these othertremendous and famous well-known
CrossFit teams, such as Mastersof the Universe, starsky and
(13:54):
Hutch and Ageless Pex, iscompletely beyond me.
That is what made that day sospecial.
The two of us could not be moredifferent in so many ways Our
physical differences, how wegrew up, what we did, who we
were.
Steve and I were about asdifferent as chalk and cheese,
as the saying goes.
(14:14):
We were truly the oddest masterand blaster duo, and yet we
managed to team up and find away to hang on and grit our way
to the award platform, and noone was more proud than Stephen
Rice that day.
He was absolutely giddy when wetook that stage.
I think the reason he was sohappy is that it really showed
(14:37):
we could hang with some greatathletes and, more importantly,
he brought everything he hadthat day and the fact that it
resulted in an award thatreflected that effort validated
everything we did.
It was really special for bothhim and me.
Afterwards, everyone headed overto the post-comp party at Sue
Walsh's place, which was at thecutest little cottage nearby at
(15:00):
Avon-by-the-Sea.
We broke open all the alcoholand drank and drank, and drank.
My arms and upper back werealready starting to really ache
and I honestly believe I hadrhabdo and if I didn't have
rhabdo it was probably theclosest I've ever been to
getting it After a full day ofworking out five bajillion extra
(15:20):
pull-ups, no hydration, thenjust trying to keep up with
Stevie's liquid consumption.
Afterwards I was very lucky Idid not sustain permanent bodily
harm and even so my arms,shoulders and back were like
puffy wood for two weeks.
But ever since that comp,anytime Steve and I would see
(15:41):
each other at the gym, we'dhigh-five, called each other
partner.
It was really special.
Now, we never competed again.
After that I did a couple morecomps, but that comp with Stevie
was the best.
I also believe it will remainas the most special athletic
experience in my life.
It was simply a pure experienceof two guys, no sporting
(16:02):
ambitions, just showed up, gaveeverything they had and
surprised themselves with whatthey could do.
I could not have asked foranything more with my partner.
I'm now 55, soon to be 56 yearsold, and, like a lot of people
as they go through life, ourthoughts and focus turn more to
not just the daily tasks at hand, but trying to uncover and
(16:24):
discover what makes lifemeaningful for us.
What are the things mostimportant to us now?
What lessons can I learn fromStephen Rice and his life lived?
I think a lot about Steve, howspecial he was and how short our
time on earth really is.
Steve was a good human being,which means he was a
transcendent and great humanbeing, and for one day, steve
(16:48):
and I elevated ourselves andbecame more than what we
expected, and that was apowerful lesson.
I want to thank Steve for makingme a better person, and now,
every time I have a drink, evenif these days it's a
non-alcoholic beer, which I knowStevie would probably say what
the fuck?
If he saw me.
I toast the big man silentlyand think of him.
I was given the gift of moretime on earth than what Steve
(17:11):
got.
It means I had better make sureI don't waste it.
Thank you, steve.
I love you and I won't forgetyou.
Steve, I love you and I won'tforget you.
Partner.
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