It's survival of the fittest in Victoria this weekend.
CrossFit Taranis is hosting its annual Winter Challenge and it promises to put competitors through some of the toughest workouts.
Athletes from B.C., Alberta and Washington state have come to the Tara-nis club (933 Ellery St.) to test their fitness in one of the fastest-growing work-out styles. Action began Friday night and continues today and Sunday from 8: 30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CrossFit involves constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movements. Exercises such as Olympic lifting, running, burpees and gymnastics moves are done in short duration at high intensity.
"We have seen CrossFit take off, and we've really noticed it in our Winter Challenge," said CrossFit Taranis co-owner Vanessa Sullivan. "When we started it four years ago, it was just small and with local athletes. Now, we have people coming from all over Canada and the U.S. and will have around 180 competitors this weekend.
"And the community is really behind us now. Our judges are all volunteers, and there are lots of volunteers helping out during the weekend, so that's great to see."
There are men's and women's individual events this weekend, as well as team events.
The CrossFit workout has also drawn the attention of police and emergency services, many of whom will be in this weekend's competition.
"Yes, the police and firefighters really see the benefit of CrossFit to help them do their jobs, so we're seeing more and more joining up," Sullivan said.
