Page 13 - Flathead Beacon // 10.28.15

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Breast Cancer survivor Trina Vanorny. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Taking on Breast Cancer with Strength and Grace CrossFit Flathead to host Oct. 31 fundraiser for Cancer Support Community
BY MOLLY PRIDDY OF THE BEACON
If there’s anyone who knows about strength and its many forms, that per- son is Trina Vanorny.
Anyone who has sweated with the folks at CrossFit Flathead on Airport Road in Kalispell knows Vanorny, who coaches at the gym and has been through many of the punishing workouts in the last few years.
But adding to her workouts, since 2010, Vanorny has kept up with her fit- ness despite going through chemo and radiation treatments twice for two dif- ferent bouts of breast cancer.
She’d been doing CrossFit for two years before her first diagnosis in Decem- ber 2010, and she believes the lifestyle better prepared her for the assault on her body that cancer treatments bring.
“I think my body was just far stronger and healthier than possibly most the gen- eral public when they find out they have cancer,” Vanorny said.
Vanorny finished chemo for the reoc- curring cancer in March, and finished her radiation treatments in June. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Vanorny is helping raise aware- ness in a very fitting way: a public work- out at Crossfit Flathead on Oct. 31.
The workout is the fifth annual Amaz- ing Grace Raise the Bar for Breast Can- cer, during which attendees will complete
the CrossFit workout titled “Grace.” It’s a benchmark workout around the world, Vanorny said, and a signature event for CrossFitters doing an October fundraiser.
It’s a relatively simple workout to remember: 30 clean-and-jerks. That means pulling a weighted bar up from the ground to your waist, then hoisting the weight over your head in one motion. Repeat 29 more times.
“It’s one of our sprint workouts,” Vanorny said. “It’s pretty quick, which is fun.”
I THINK MY BODY WAS JUST FAR STRONGER AND HEALTHIER THAN POSSIBLY MOST THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHEN THEY FIND OUT THEY HAVE CANCER. TRINA VANORNY
Heats of workout start at 9 a.m., with the last heat usually ending at about 10 a.m. There’s a silent auction that takes place during the event, and all the money raised at the event will go to the new Cancer Support Community, a place for
peoplewithcancerandtheirfamiliesto receive support of all kinds expected to open in Kalispell in January.
Such a resource would have been invaluable when she was first diagnosed, she said.
“It would’ve been such an awesome support system outside of the medical community,” Vanorny said. “It’s just in a house, it’s cozy, and it’s a community of survivors and people who have been touched by cancer. The possibilities for programs are endless.”
Last year, there were about 120 people in attendance for the fundraiser, either participating or watching, Vanorny said. Participants don’t need to be CrossFit members to join; Vanorny thinks most of the people who competed last year were non-members.
The past four years of the event have yielded more than $22,000 in donations to local organizations. Registration costs $15 for adults, and children are $12. Spec- tators get in for free.
For more information, visit www. amazinggracecfit.com.
Vanorny will be participating this year, despite some residual fatigue from the chemo and radiation earlier this year. She wants to compete for herself, but also for those who can’t be there, who can’t raise the bar themselves.
“It really is fun,” she said.
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