Northland mums claim crossfit treble at fittest mum competition in Takapuna

Local mums (from left) Rochelle Record, 42, Kim Grison, 51, Madeline Marie May, 42, pose after winning each of their respective categories at the Fittest Mum competition in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Three local mums have stunned the crossfit scene, winning their divisions at the Fittest Mum competition finals in Auckland.

Rochelle Record, Kim Grison and Madeline Marie May, all of Barbell Jungle CrossFit in Whangārei, won the preliminary online form of the competition, before travelling to Takapuna last weekend and dominating the field of competitors from New Zealand and abroad.

Women were able to record their times for various routines with the top 24 selected for the finals. As all three of Northland's competitors finished in the top three, they were able to enter without paying the $65 entrance fee.

The finals competition comprised of a range of workouts testing strength, endurance and technique. Routines included dumbbell lifting, assault biking and gymnastics among others.

From the five divisions, Record, 42, won the 40-and-over category, Grison, 51, won the 45-and-over category and May won in a competitive beginners category. Record, who turned 42 on the day of competition, won her third successive title in the division, in just her fourth year of crossfit.

"It gets harder every year, the competition gets better so we have to train really hard," Record said.

Record, who co-owned Barbell Jungle CrossFit, said it was a great effort to win against competitors from gyms with hundreds of members, compared with her own which had about 30 female members.

She said May's result in a category which included very young competitors was astonishing, considering May had started crossfit only about six months prior.

"All props to her because to come into a tournament at 42 and beat 20-year-olds, she's doing pretty good."

Record said May showed an important principle of crossfit in that to be successful, you needed to be an all-round athlete who was good in all aspects rather than focusing on excelling in one particular routine.

Grison's performance was one to be expected as she had shown great form right through the competition. Record said she would have been surprised if Grison didn't end up in the top three of the competition.

"She's a very good athlete and she probably doesn't get as much props as she should. I expect big things from her in the next few years."

Record credited the environment of the competition as one where woman were able to try their hardest without other distractions you might find in a normal gym environment.

She said the results at the tournament were testament to the hard work by all who competed.

"When you're a mum, trying to find an hour out of your day is hard when you've got a family, so I really admire mums that put in the hard yards and get to the gym and train."

With so much success coming from her gym, Record was humble as she described how it was down to the effort of the whole group who came and trained regularly. She noted how she liked to train at a higher level than other gyms.

"We have hard programming compared to most which sometimes is beneficial. We don't programme to compete, we programme to get fit and be good at everything and it seems to be working."