Bellevue is now home to the “Fittest Woman Over 50.”
Laurie Carver, a soon-to-be 51-year-old Bellevue woman recently captured that title with a gold medal at the 2010 CrossFit Games in California.
Carver, a coach at Northwest CrossFit in Bellevue, came in first after finishing well in three separate workouts. Carver explained the CrossFit Games as a “ramped-up version” of each different CrossFit gym.
“It’s an awesome energy with great people,” she said. “It’s super difficult stuff.”
The competition began with the workout “Nancy”, a routine that consists of five rounds of a 400-meter run and then repetitions of overhead squats. The second event was a maximum repetition of a deadlift, a selection the surprised Carver.
“The max deadlift is pretty tough, because you are doing as much as you can do and you have to be really careful,” she said.
Carver took third in the event, setting a personal record with 260-pounds.
The final workout was a CrossFit workout named “Fran”, a workout which features rounds of thrusters and pull-ups.
“It’s one of my least favorites,” Carver said. “I hadn’t done it for a year and a half.”
She finished high enough to earn the overall gold medal, which bestowed her the title of “Fittest Woman over 50.”
“Hey, I’ll take it,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in sports and athletics and eating well, and good genetics goes with that. I think it can inspire a lot of people and I’m fine with that.”
Carver said discovered CrossFit three years ago. Bellevue-born and raised (she attended Newport High School), she said she’s always looked for the next toughest challenge in life. When everyone wanted to run marathons, she ran marathons. When triathlons became the rage, she started running, swimming and biking.
“I was always looking for something to push me,” Carver said. “When I found CrossFit, that was everything I was looking for in one.
“CrossFit is a little bit different. It takes some time to wrap your mind around it. I like high intensity, really tough stuff,” she added. “I like to push myslef, I like that pain and I like the fact that you never get bored. There are so many things to work on in CrossFit so you’ve never mastered everything.”
Carver, whose goal is to defend her title and also enter the open age competition next year, said she’s OK with being an inspiration to those who think 50 means it’s time to hit the couch.
“I think it inspires a lot of people,” she said. “I don’t have to have a fear of getting older. Like I say all the time, getting out of shape is not inevitable.”
Carver wasn’t the only Bellevue native earning honors. Larry Silber, a Bellevue chiropractor, placed fourth overall in the master’s comptition on the men’s side.
