The Governator

(Or more interesting things about Columbus.)

You might remember a while back I wrote a post about knowing your town and what would you show people if a stranger came to visit your town. This post is about one of the big events that goes on in Columbus. I will soon begin the Tour Of Columbus complete with pictures. Stay tuned.

Anyway, The Governator.

Every year, during the first weekend of March, there is a huge gathering called The Arnold Classic. Originally, it was a body building event hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. There were tons of vendors handing out samples of steroids protein shakes and whatnot. The Arnold Classic still has all the vendors and is capped off with a large body buidling competition, but in the last several years the Classic has turned into a Fitness expo. There are now competitions in fencing, speedskating, dance, aerobics, cheerleading, figure skating, boxing, running (more on that in a bit) and this year there was even a Pay-Per-View event for ultimate fighting. I'm sure there are a lot more events that I didn't mention. To view all the details, go here. One of the events that my running friends are into is called the Pump and Run. It starts with each competitor bench pressing a certain percentage of their body weight. Then everyone runs a 5K race. For each successful bench press rep, 30 seconds is subtracted from the individual's 5K time. Usually the winner has a time of like 2 minutes.

One of the best things about the Arnold Classic is seeing the first family of California. I was at Easton Mall yesterday and Maria Shriver was inside Coach checking out the handbags, I guess. I always try to hit the mall during the weekend of the Arnold Classic. I have seen both Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger there before.

Personally, I've never been to the Arnold Classic, but it is a huge deal here in Columbus.