Women get in shape the hard way at fitness boot camp

NORFOLK

For a fitness challenge, the shirt said it all: "No pain, no miniskirt." And that was the men's shirt.

The women were wearing bright red shirts that promised, "You will black out before you die." They stretched and warmed up along the walkway at Ocean View Beach, ready to pair off and compete as the temperature climbed and humidity soared on Saturday morning.

Ken Williams wore camo. He is the Ken behind Body by Ken, and the boot behind the Boot Camp for Women fitness program, based at Muscle Beach East in Ocean View. His women's A-Team, what he calls his "elite team," was ready for the competition. Admission was one bookbag filled with school supplies, to be donated to the homeless shelters of ForKids.

"This is like a Top Gun, Tom Cruise exercise course," one of the trainers explained. Williams called the flock together for a prayer, then split them into pairs on the bracket sheet he held.

"Why are we all standing here today?" he asked. "We have expendable income that we can spend on our bodies. To whom much is given, much is required, right?"

Fifty stuffed bookbags sat beside them. Priscilla Monti, who runs ForKids, said the program serves about 175 children in shelters plus in-home programs. The tough economy has shown itself through fewer donations, she said. The first pair up were MaryEllen Spahr and Donneshia Edmond, who sprinted to the mats for 10 push-ups, ran to the next mats for 10 V-sits, trotted to the beach to flop tires around and tote 40-pound weights, then struggled, more or less, to run up the steps and across the finish line.

Because boot camp is a team thing - don't let Williams see you not cheering - everyone shouted. They shouted when Monica Evans and Crystal Blount took off, when Connie Gregg and Ingani Franklin ran, when Amber Ward and Kanita Marion competed. They rooted for Amanda Wood and Erin Haynes and Renee Evans and Angel Joy Boyd. They cheered for the ballet dancer, the mud wrestler, the mother of three. And they cheered the only male participant - Vedat Aksoy, who teaches at Tidewater Tech.

As the sun rose and sweat fell and muscles began to shake, the brutal competition whittled the field to two: Spahr and Boyd.

Spahr grimaced and sat on the ground to pull off her shoes, while her 14-year-old daughter, Mariah, urged, "Come on, Mom, you can do it!" Boyd stood in the shade of a tree with three teammates, all aiming to boost her spirits. Then the two competitors took the field again.

Williams took pity on them: Only five push-ups, five V-sits, then a sprint on the sand. "This is for the kids!" he urged.

"Go, mom!" said 12-year-old Ryan Spahr, sporting his own T-shirt that read: "Beware of the underdog."

At the finish line, it was Boyd in front, but she is, after all, a boxing champ and bodybuilder. Spahr is a bank teller at BB&T. High fives went all around.

The A-Team posed for photos with bookbags, and Monti said thanks, many times.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com