#raincitybio

 We’re sad to announce that another Raincity favorite is leaving the country :(

He first came in for a free [SC] class Dec of 2017, did a few drop-ins, then decided to do his OnRamp... and has attended 6 days / week (or more) basically every since! Which is how he also managed to hit his 1,000 class attendance just 2 weeks before leaving - earning himself a benchmark that we can all remember him by after he’s gone...

Come join us Saturday Sept 10th for his benchmark workout AND that night we’ll head to Johnnie Fax’s pub (at the end of terminal) to take all Pauric’s money on the pool table so he can’t afford to leave us...

New #RaincityBenchmark Pacing with Pauric

If you're new you may not know Andrea as she hasn't been in since COVID - but if you're an OG you'll definitely remember her as a bubbly little bundle of joy!

If you come in on any day with deadlifts or heavy cleans, then you've at least seen Adam's name on top of the leaderboard if not dramatically watched him hit the floor post wod... and by wod we mean barbell complex with more than 3 reps.

Unfortunately they've decided they've had enough of Vancouver housing prices and are moving to the island. After being members of our community for over 5 years they will definitely be missed! So come join us for a farewell <3 (details below)

PLEASE RSVP!

This event is not hosted / managed by Raincity Athletics - so please make sure to RSVP via the link below so Ryan (also raincity member) knows you're coming :)

When: June 9th 6pm to late Where: Hero’s Welcome 3917 Main St, Vancouver. RSVP: https://ift.tt/lSvfm3X Invites: Please circulate this invite.

As we return to some form of ‘normal’ post pandemic - we wanted to startup our #RaincityBio & features again - to show our incredible community how incredible the members within our community really are.

After one of our #RathletesOutside hikes, I got to spend some time catching up with Kassie Harder. She’s been a member since 2020, but is one of my favorite stories of ‘not planning to stick around’ and here she is, 2 years and over 200 classes later (through a pandemic). She also told me about her son Paxton, and his battle with a very rare disease GM1 Gangliosidosis... and incredibly sad but powerful story, so when she asked if we could do a hero workout in honor of her son’s birthday I said 100%, and what better time to do it than for our Family Day weekend workout <3 

A bit more about Kassie and her son Pax.

Nicknames?

Kasshole lol or if that's too NSFW my actual full name is Kassara, so Kassie is actually the nickname ;)

On The Gram? 

@kke_harder

What do you do for work?

Graphic Designer

How’d you find Raincity?

Was looking for a gym closer to my house to go to temporarily while I had no car, found Raincity and loved it so I stayed :)

What did you do for fitness before Raincity?

I started doing functional fitness because of a leggings group on Facebook haha they would enter you in a contest if you did their workout of the week, the workouts seemed insane, I never thought I would have been capable to do stuff like this. They also offered online programming, so I ended up doing that that for almost 2 years before I joined a FF gym.

Favorite thing about Raincity?

The coaches! Everyone really cares and takes the time to explain things fully, I'm a details person so always ask a lot of questions. Not sure that I'm actually better at anything but I've learned a lot since coming here :)

Something we didn’t know about you?

I used to be in a rap group, we were called the Mass Hoolies

About Paxton Harder & his Hero Workout ‘Raincity Pax’

Paxton Harder was born a seemingly healthy baby boy on Feb. 16, 2012. At 6 months old he started having issues with his vision and muscle tone so his parents (Kassie & Graham) started looking into what the cause could be. At 18 months old he was diagnosed with GM1 Gangliosidosis, a rare, fatal neurological disorder. He fought really hard, making small gains despite the increasing amount of challenges he faced including blindness, seizures, losing the ability to eat food by mouth and move his arms and legs - things that most of us take for granted. His favourite activities were swimming, playing with light-up toys, and listening to music. Paxton died at home on May 15, 2015 at the age of 3 years & 3 months, he accomplished many things in his short life and smiled through all of it. For his 10th birthday this year we will be doing a tribute WOD in his honour - let's celebrate all the things our bodies are capable of!

You may not have had a conversation with Billy before, but you’ve probably admired his squat (or overhead squat) at some point in time. Billy is the silent but deadly type; with near flawless movement patterns, and being a hell of a lot stronger than he’ll ever admit, but would never complain or brag, unlike most of us. Enjoy a few great snaps of a young pre-jacked Billy from way back :D

Billy started with Raincity Dec of 2013 (within 6 months of us first opening) and  has pretty much consistently attended 3 classes / week since then now hitting over 1200 classes total!

Who are you?

Billy

What do you do?

IT

How’d you find Raincity?

Got bored of regular exercise routine, and wanted to do something different.

What did you do before Raincity?

BIs and Tris at the gym, jog on the sea wall, and grouse grind when it’s open.

Favorite thing about Raincity?

Great programming, excellent coaches, and everyone is friendly.

Something we didn’t know about you?

I enjoy building LEGOs

If you could steal one of the Dogs of Raincity?

I don’t want to steal people’s pets.

What would you like in your workout?

Air squats, burpees, DB snatches. For time.

So with the goal of keeping Billy’s benchmark as concise, simple, and effective as the man himself... here you go:

“RAINCITY BILLY”

5 rounds for time: 20 minute cap

50 Air Squats

10 Lateral burpees over the DB

Testing week means a new round of RAthlete benchmark workouts! 

Benchmark workouts are written for a member once they’ve attended over 1,000 classes at Raincity Athletics. You can checkout our past ones here: https://rncty.news/tagged/raincitybenchmark

First one is Ryan Holyk, he first started with us in Nov of 2016! Since then he’s experienced the full gamut of Raincity having done a bit of individual programming, some private training, but always consistently hitting 3 [FF] classes / week since then! 

Who are you?

Ryan C Holykl, but at work they called me "high school"

What do you do? 

BC Hydro in the daytime, OnlyFans at night.

How’d you find Raincity? 

I walked past the gym long enough that I was curious what was going on inside.

What did you do before Raincity?

I had a membership at the Y. I did boot camps and swam laps. Ran 10k's each year. I thought I was in shape, little did I know...

Favorite thing about Raincity? 

Very friendly to new people, which I used to be. Couldn't remember what a clean was versus a snatch. Doing the team wods and I would do 1/3 the reps but no one made me feel like I was being a drag.

Something we didn’t know about you? 

When I was in high school I was on this trivia team called Reach for the Top. We were on some obscure TV channel, I think the videos are out there somewhere.

NOTE: We were unable to find the videos... but we’re a bit disappointed to see he was never crowned a national champion (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_for_the_Top)

If you could steal one of the Dogs of Raincity?

Pre-covid there was a dog that would come on the weekends named Georgie, 10/10 would steal

What would you like in your workout? 

REVENGE OF THE VERTICALLY CHALLENGED

make it for time but not too short so they have to suffer ~12 mins

Toes to bar or pullups of course of course

Double unders or burpees for cardio

Something with a barbell (clean, deadlift, S2OH)

“RAINCITY RYAN” 

For time (12min cap):

50 Hang Squat Cleans @ (135/95) [115/85] <155 / 105>

Alternating EMOM: Odd: 20 Double Unders <30> Even: 7 Toes to Ring [10 VSIT]< TTB >

Another Raincity OG has broken the 1,000 class barrier! 

Randy came in for his first free trial class on Sept 7th 2013... within our first month of opening our doors! Since then he’s brought FIVE BARS of energy and smiles to over 1050 classes!

Who are you?

Randy

What do you do?

I work for Aquatic Informatics, as Director of Operations

How did you end up at Raincity?

Alexi!  I wanted to kick-start my fitness in my 40s

When can we find you at Raincity?

5PM, 6PM, 10 or 11AM Saturday

What did you do for fitness before you found us?

I ran (10K, a couple of half marathons).  Boot-camp, aerobics, hot yoga, glo-bo gym, dance.

What’s your favorite thing about Raincity?

The community.  It feels comfortable, familiar and like home.  Plus it's dog friendly!

Tell us something we don’t know about you?

I've been working on my drag persona.  Debut happening soon :) and I'm Mariah's #1 fan at Raincity.

If we let you steal 1 (or 3) dogs of Raincity, who would it be?

I love all of the dogs, but I'd have to say #raincitypaisley

If we were to write you a workout, what would you want in it?

box jumps, hang power cleans, kipping pull ups (not too many), air squats.  Not too long (not a chipper, unless it's a really long chipper lol).  Also it should have a time cap :)

“Raincity Randy”

Come in for this one Thursday Sept 23 as part of our testing week!

With a running clock... 0-8 minutes:

21-15-9 Hang Power Cleans (95/65)[75/55] Box Jumps (24/20)[20/14] Wallballs (20/14)

8-10 min - rest 10-16 min: 

5 rounds for time (6min cap) 25 Air Squats  5 Pullups [banded]< CTB >

Here at Raincity Athletics, once an athlete completes 1,000 classes, we make them their own [FF] benchmark! 

This one is long overdue, as Laura Murphy (aka Murph) joined us October 5th of 2013 for her first free trial class and has now attended almost 1300 classes since then! Though she had some time off chasing careers, she’s been a consistent member of the Raincity community for over 6 years <3

Who are you? 

Laura Murphy (Murph) 

What do you do? 

Lululemon + Breathwork / Meditation Facilitator 

How did you end up at Raincity?

I worked with Lex many moons ago and and talked me (sheila, and tammi) into 6 years ago.

When can we find you at Raincity?

6PM and Saturday Sunday Mornings 

What did you do for fitness before you found us? 

Running, Elliptical, light weights at the Y

What’s your favorite thing about Raincity?

The culture, I've always felt welcome and the people are amazing. I have made some really great friendships from this place. And gotten numerous jobs haha

Tell us something we don’t know about you?

3 years ago I quite the corporate rat race to find myself in India, SE Asia and NZ. I'm still looking ;). I'm actually pretty spiritual and love teaching transformational breathwork!

If we let you steal 1 (or 3) dogs of Raincity, who would it be?

Revi, Nacho, Sunday

If we were to write you a workout, what would you want in it?

long intervals or chipper:  ski Erg, Bike, Cleans, Wall balls, Big Ball carries, kettlebells, sled pulls, squats, dumbell snatch, devil press

“Raincity Murphy”

Come in and hit this bad boy Saturday Sept 25 as part of our end of cycle testing! 

For time, 35 min cap. Athletes must complete one  of each: Ski / Bike / Row Workouts can be done in any order but a sand ball carry must be done between every cluster.

45/35 Cal Ski / Row / Bike 3 rounds: 10 Cleans (75/55) < 95/65 > 5 Thrusters

Sand Ball Carry*

45/35 Cal Row / Bike / Ski 3 rounds: 10 KB Swing (24/16) [RKB] 5 Goblet Squats

Sand Ball Carry*

45/35 Cal Bike / Ski / Row 3 rounds: 5 NPU Burpee 10 Alt DB Snatch (40/30)< 50/35 >

Sand Ball Carry*

A special edition #RaincityBio for ya today! We’re introducing you to a newer RAthlete (he completed his OnRamp October last year - so not thattt new) who has something special to tell you about, meet Keir Feehan, aka ‘Beer with a K’.

Keir is not only an all around epic dude - but he’s a big dude, who’s played a lot of sport (6 concussions later he was forced to stop) but is eager and willing to talk about mental health! Which is why you should join him on the Raincity Athletics Movember team: https://movember.com/t/raincity

Where did you come from?

My ol' friend Lauren told me that her gym had dogs, focused on technique, and was super friendly. But she had me at dogs.

What other sports or activities do you do?

I used to play a multitude of team sports, but with 6 concussions I'm at a high risk of re-injury with any of them. Now I just ride my roadie around town in search of the perfect donut spot when I'm not at RA. For anyone wondering, Duffin's Donuts on East 41st.

Tell us something else interesting about you that we probably don't know 

I'm a classic Maritime-oversharer :) No, something I'd probably want people to know about me is that my one cause in life is normalizing talking about mental health conditions. I suffer from them, I lost a friend to one, almost everyone knows or is impacted by some form of mental health issue. Especially being a big dude and having spent a lot of time playing team sports I've seen and experienced the stigma of being forced into a never opening up about the subject. For that reason, I talk to whoever wants to talk/listen. It's also why you'll see me with an upper-lip sweater in November! Hoping a few others might join me for some Movember fun. If not just wanted you all to know that, as the Newfies would say, I dies at ya b'y! (roughly translated from Newfie that means you're all great people)