Sunday, 12/23/2018

Dedicated to Dutch Sergeant Mark Weijdt, 24 years old, of the 11 Airmobile brigade 12e Regiment van Hutzs who was killed by an IED during a peace mission in Afghanistan on December 19, 2008.

We first found it posted on CrossFit Spaarne’s (Haarlem, Netherlands) website as their workout of the day for Saturday, December 19, 2015, the seventh anniversary of his passing. Later we found a video of the same workout from CrossFit Amsterdam from two years prior to that. In 2018 we were informed that the WOD was originally created by Michael Wilson, close friend of Mark Weijdt, and box owner at Crossfit Arnhem (Arnhem, Netherlands).

When we contacted the workout’s creator, Mr. Wilson replied, “Mark was a sergeant and my squad leader. He was a sniper. He was a fun guy, very passionate, always positive. I chose these 3 movements to increase heart rate (like the adrenaline rush during our act), box jumps since we were on a hill, and squat cleans because we had to carry Mark (prescribed weight was roughly Mark’s weight). The significance of the rep scheme is:
– 19th day
– 12th month
– 8th year
– 5 years since his passing (when the WOD was created in 2013)

The workout has since been adopted as a Dutch Hero WOD by gyms in the Netherlands and around the world.

“In this way we and many others like Mark Weijdt commemorate a soldier and friend and give tribute to all surviving relatives (especially his parents, sisters and partner).” – CrossFit Spaarne