Barbells for Boobs. The name catches your attention but the cause saves lives. Thursday night dozens of people participated in Barbells for Boobs at Crossfit Michiana in Elkhart. The event was all to raise awareness for breast cancer. During the night all 37 athletes gathered together for a picture and instead of saying "cheese" they all screamed, "boobs." But it's ok to scream that at the event. Crossfit Michiana Owner Carole Turnbo said, "they love that they can say boobs and nobody cares."
Being able to say "boobs" without anyone caring is not the reason that dozens of athletes showed up to participate in the Barbells for Boobs event though. They all had to do 30 squat clean and jerks and it raised money for breast cancer. More specifically money that will pay for mammograms for those who can't afford it.
It's a cause that hits close to home for some of the athletes. Jeremy Spiekout said, "my mom's been a motivation to me she's been doing the breast cancer walk for 7 years. She is a breast cancer survivor of 8 years." And Miranda Vanbruaene said the same of her breast cancer survivor mom, "drives us to push ourselves and to know that even when we're tired or when we think we can't do something what she went through gives us courage and strength to keep pushing." Vanbruaene's mom, Connie Varga, attended the Barbells for Boobs event to watch her daughter lift a pink barbell. "Seriously I think going through this is probably about as tough as what I went through," said Varga.
And the event is hitting close to home for every participant now that one athlete had to drop out earlier in the week. "One of them in the event just found out she has stage two breast cancer," said Turnbo. She added that she's confident that woman will be at the Barbell for Boobs event next year as a breast cancer survivor.
Turnbo expects this years event to raise over $6,000.
