CF had been criticized by the endurance world because athletes claiming to be the world’s fittest could throw serious weights around and execute some pretty tough skilled movements but only for shorter duration events. Dave Castro (their competition guru) responded and began adding endurance events 3-4 years ago and it forced competitors to have to train for endurance almost as much as the other aspects.
That’s kinda cool. I wonder if this will start to change their clientele a bit. There are runners or other athletes who are strong and agile (especially on a pound for pound basis) but maybe were not interested because previously cross fit was so focused on shot and explosive movements only. Perhaps that pulls more of th in the mix and changes the demographic of the top guys and gals. Kinda makes me think of the Spartan race/warrior dash/whatever . Started as mostly CrossFit folk I think. But then you started to get guys like Max King coming over and doing real well
I don’t do CF anymore but I did it pretty consistently for 5 or 6 years at a couple different gyms. If anything I think the clientele has gone the other way recently, with more people focused on lifting and strength training rather than endurance. The proliferation of the CF Games seems to have helped push the general clientele more towards oly lifting, powerlifting and gymnastic stuff, probably because (as others have mentioned) that stuff is much more interesting to watch on TV. But CF has always included endurance work in both their programming and competitions, and the Games have had trail runs, swimming, biking, etc. going back years.
When I was doing it a few years ago we had lots of runners, triathletes, cyclists and swimmers, and the gyms I belonged to all programmed a ton of running and rowing, and always encouraged their members to race in local events. The gym I was at the longest participated in several 5k’s, 10k’s and a local swimming event every year. Not saying everyone was competitive in them, but generally respectable compared to the age group masses. It was actually a few people from CF who convinced me to do my first triathlon.