In 2015 Mary walked into Second Wind CrossFit in the Washington DC area and took her first class. A native of Maryland, Mary had been working as a nurse practitioner with an inner city population in an urban hospital. You can say Mary doesn’t scare easy and starting CrossFit is just what this lady needed to challenge herself. Upon moving to Boston in 2018 to work in the V.A. Hospital Mary searched for a new CrossFit community. And lucky for us, she landed at Iron & Grit.

In her first class Mary jokes she clashed with Coach Miguel because he gave her a trainer bar. She is sassy and likes to lift heavy but decided she would listen to him and now one of her favorite classes is Skill Development on Saturday mornings. She especially likes the core and stability work and she appreciates the attention to detail Coach Miguel provides each athlete.

She likes the variety of the CrossFit workouts combining powerlifting, Olympic lifting, cardio and gymnastics. But her favorite class is B.I.G. Engine on Sunday mornings. This class is meant to test your mettle and Mary loves the grueling grind the workout provides. Mary is barely 5 feet and is 72 years old, and the fact she qualified for the CrossFit Semifinals in the 70+ Age division this year is no small order. She stands with a small elite group of athletes who earn top 2% in the CrossFit OPEN and are invited to the next level of competition. She took on the challenge because she wanted to have the experience and now that she finished all 6 workouts she is setting new goals for the year.

What are her fitness goals for 2025? Mary would like to get her doubleunders, pull ups and increase her snatch weight. Those 3 goals will take time and she said the best advice she has for anyone is PATIENCE. You have to put in the time!

Besides being a full time badass Mary received her nurse practitioner degree from Georgetown University and works at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury helping patients admitted to the hospital from diagnosis to developing a treatment plan. The job is challenging but we don’t expect Mary to do anything that’s easy. It’s that gumption and grit that has driven her from being a rebellious teenage girl “getting in all sorts of trouble” to becoming a respected nurse practitioner and masters athlete. There is something special about Mary and I think we can all learn to take on new challenges and keep learning; no matter our age, ability or set backs.