We are a little bit less than a week away from the 2014 October Iron Fest taking place at CrossFit Oakland’s Emeryville location and it is time to provide some details. Firstly, the anticipated schedule is shown below:

07:30 – Doors Open
08:00 – Weigh In Commences by Lot Number
09:15 – Rules Briefing
09:30 – Warm ups begin, Judges and Spotters Meeting
10:00 – Lifting commences
12:00 – Yep, still lifting
15:00 – Probably getting closer to done
16:00 – Probable awards ceremony

As linked above, weigh-in order will be determined by lot number, which was assigned based upon when you registered for the meet. Lot numbers can be found here:

Lot Numbers for the 2014 October Iron Fest in Oakland

When you register at the door, you will get an attempt card and your t-shirt. Upon weigh-in, you will provide the official with your attempt card along with the opening attempts for the squat, press, and deadlift. Assuming that weigh-ins will take about a minute or a little more per person, you can roughly guess when you will be called. If you miss your weigh-in slot, you will need to go to the back of the line.  If you need to potentially get naked to make weight, we will have a sex-appropriate official on hand to allow for that. While waiting to be weighed in, you can determine your rack heights for the squat and press.

Please read the rules in their entirety. I just updated them in the last few days to formalize the minimum increase in weight on all lifts (2.5 lbs) and to allow for smelling salts to be used.

This meet is a singlet-optional affair. Singlets are encouraged since it makes judging significantly easier and more accurate.  Shorts and t-shirts are allowed for those not lifting in singlets. T-shirts will need to be tucked in and shorts should stop above the knee. Realize that the baggier your clothing is, the harder it is to see if your joints are in full extension, or if the crease of your hip is below the top of your knee. If the judges cannot see those things because of clothing, I have instructed them to red light the lift.

You need to have a t-shirt on for both the squat and the press. If you are wearing a singlet, wear a t-shirt underneath for both those lifts. Fortunately, if you don’t own any t-shirts, we will be providing you one at the meet. It even has a dinosaur on it. For the deadlift, you can wear a  t-shirt, tank top, or just a singlet.

Long socks are required for the deadlift. They must fully cover the calf to immediately below the knee. Soccer, baseball, rugby, etc… socks all fit the bill.  Tights that fully cover the shin are also permitted. The bar cannot be in contact with the bare skin of your lower legs. We will not let you deadlift if your shins are not covered. This is for the protection of the other lifters as well as for your shins.

We have some cool prizes for the winners. As with last meet, the best male and female winner walk away with a stuffed Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Heavyweight, lightweight, and masters winners get smaller stuffed Triceratops.  However, if you win the best male or female award when all of the scores from all of the gyms are combined, you receive a free spot to a Starting Strength Seminar. That is a two-and-a-half day affair worth $900. Thank you to Mark Rippetoe and the The Aasgaard Company for their generosity. The overall winners will be announced on Sunday or Monday after the meet to great fanfare.

Best female and male lifters will be determined via the Wilks equation. Same for best heavy, light, and masters lifters. Weight class winners will be determined via total within the weight class and will be announced at the meet. Unfortunately, the only prize for winning your weight class is pride. You won’t necessarily get to take home any dinos, unless you also win your division. Hey, if everyone gets a dino, then no one may as well get a dino.

The competition will take place using a men’s York B&R bar. This is a 29mm bare steel bar that has a center knurl in addition to the knurl on the sides. No special squat or deadlift bars will be used.

Lastly, bring food and a bottle for water. The meet will not be catered, nor will there be food for sale. There are some restaurants  and the Berkeley Bowl grocery store within about two or three blocks of the gym, so you have plenty of options for food. None of them, unfortunately, are in the building. CrossFit Oakland has water for you, but will likely not have any cups, so bring something in which to hold and drink water.