Hilary Achauer talks to Jessica Murden about the first annual Nasty Northeast Throwdown, an event designed to build a sense of community among New Jersey affiliates.
There are more than 40 CrossFit boxes in New Jersey, and most of them have a neighboring box within a 10-minute drive. Despite this proximity, Jessica Murden, director of marketing and social affairs for CrossFit ACT in Saddle Brook, N.J., noticed the boxes never did anything together. Murden wanted to bring together the CrossFit community in New Jersey, but she wasn’t sure how.
Right around this time, Bill Shockley, the owner of CrossFit ACT, mentioned to Murden that he wanted to do a throwdown. A light bulb went off, and they combined their goals and came up with the Nasty Northeast Throwdown. More than just a chance to compete against other CrossFitters, it was an opportunity to unite the New Jersey community during four competitions that would take place every other week for eight weeks starting in September 2011.