Self-Aggrandizement: Semper Fi

The best thing about owning CrossFit NYC is getting to know our members. From stay-at-home moms to FBI Swat Team members, sixty-five-year-old retirees to twenty-five-year-old FDNY firefighters, I'm immensely proud of them all. They come in at all different levels of fitness. But they all work their asses off equally hard. And, slowly but surely, they all see results. By now, on balance, I'm sure they're the fittest gym crowd in all of New York.

I'm particularly proud when any of our members take that fitness and put it to good use. Take, for example, Keith Zeier. Keith served in Iraq as a SpecOps Marine. At least until July 17th, 2006, when he was hit by an IED. The explosion took out a sizeable chunk of Keith's quadricep, and he was told he'd never walk again without a cane.

This past weekend, however, Keith did more than just walk. He ran. For 31 straight hours. A 100 mile ultramarathon from Key Largo to Key West. He did it as a fundraiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a non-profit that provides college scholarships to children of fallen special operations personnel, and immediate financial assistance to badly injured special operators. It was a grant from the foundation that allowed his mother to travel to his bedside when he was severely wounded.

By any measure, Keith's run has been a great success - as an example, as an inspiration, and as a real impact on the foundation's bottom line, for which he's raised nearly $48,000. But given the strong cause, and his even stronger effort, I hope you'll consider donating a small amount yourself. And I also hope that you'll watch the short video his support crew put together; if this doesn't get you off your ass, out the door, and on your way to changing the world, I don't know what would.

Semper Fi Filed Monday, May 18 2009.

Semper Fi
Filed Monday, May 18 2009.