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5.19.98

This was the second bodybuilding contest I brought Liz to this year so far.

Some people think this may be a thrill – others may not.  The last one was pretty boring for her.  She almost fell asleep.  After seeing a few dozen competitors go through their routine, one tends to get used to the scenery after a while.  But, this time, it was going to be different.  Charlene Bohannon was competing.  She and her husband, Brian, run Muscle World Gym up in Webster.  I used to train there quite frequently when I worked at Xerox and Liz, herself, has been by there a few times and has taken a liking to them.  So, there’s a little vested interest for Liz in this competition.  It is like watching a game show that a friend is participating in – it tends to hold one’s interest.

I think it has been since 1995 the last time Charlene has competed.  She always was able to hold her own on stage and did fairly well.  This contest was the 1998 NGA Northeast Bodybuilding Championships.  She was entering in as a Middleweight, weighing in at about 125lbs, shredded Grade-A Beef.  She stands about 5’4” and has a petite to medium frame.

The contest was being held at Irondequoit High School.  Although not being a school event, amateur events were usually held in places like this; probably affordable to rent out.  We entered the place at 6:05 PM, supposedly it started at 6:00PM, and we found our seats.  Obviously, the event had not started yet as people were wandering all around the place.  The place was crawling with very dark, tanned muscular people in athletic jump suits, and also, their family, friends, and the general audience.  Note here – the dark tanned muscular looking people were competitors.  We looked around and saw no sign of Charlene or Brian.  We figured they must have been backstage somewhere.

The lights dimmed, a podium on the stage lit up, the announcer introduced himself, he proceeded, and the evening show was now on the way.  Each weight class came up one by one.  After seeing the competitors up there, I became a little self-conscience.  There were a few times that I found myself pinching my waistline feeling the extra adipose tissue that lay atop my abdominal section.  Yeah, I noticed a couple of extra inches. <frown>

After waiting  awhile, rifling through several weight classes, they finally got to the Middleweight female competitors.  There, Charlene stood on the stage with three other competitors.  Her tag read “29”.  She looked good – really hard and ripped.  Another competitor looked just as hard and ripped also, tag read “28”; close call there.  Glancing down at the program, I noted that competitor number 28 was Laurie Azzoto.  Both Charlene’s and Laurie’s conditionings were similar, and it could go either way.  Another competitor looked flabby; probably a result of no dieting.  The last competitor looked to be in good condition, but a little on the soft side.  Hands down, it was between Charlene and Laurie for the Middleweight title.

They went through some instructed side by side comparisons, mandatory poses, and were instructed to file off the stage.  Each of them then came out performing a routine that consisted of various poses to music in original choreography for a duration of ninety seconds or less.  Most of them just did the average poses to either a Hard Rock tune or took the graceful angle with a Soft Rock or Classical tunes.  And yes, throughout the entire competition, we heard the ever popular Titanic tune twice.

It was Charlene’s turn.  I looked over to Liz.  She grew all excited and grabbed my arm in anticipation.  A Hard Rock tune began to scream over the speakers.  There was no sign of Charlene.  Suddenly, she came out doing cartwheels – yes, cartwheels.  And landed into a strong posing position and started progressing through her routine.  She synched up to the music and hit an impressive pose after impressive pose.  The audience was up in arms, and in addition to us, was cheering their heads off.  A minute and a half later, she received a much earned applause from the audience, waved, blew a kiss to the crowd, and strolled off the stage.

Later on that night, the results were announced.  Once again, all the different weight classes were presented again and placings were coupled with plaques and trophies.

The Middleweight woman’s class filed onto the stage.  The announcer reintroduced the competitors to the audience.  We applauded each one.  The announcer then called for a pose-down.  This usually occurs when the outcome is indecisive – usually two or more competitors are too close to judge and this would determine the winner.  Music is played and the competitors would pose against each other side by side in a freestyle fashion as the audience cheered on.  The music started and Charlene stood her ground and posed.  The audience started cheering.  Instantly, Laurie stepped in front of her, threw her flexed arm up in front of Charlene’s face, blocking her from the audience’s view, and threw a pose.  Another competitor stepped in front of Laurie and threw another pose.  The audience’s level increased.  We were all cheering and hollering.  Charlene, a little frustrated, stepped over to the side a few paces and started posing again.  Laurie then walked over and challenged her by posing in the same fashion.  They performed two poses side by side together.  At that moment, another competitor stepped in front of both of them.  Charlene assertively stepped through nudging between the two and threw a pose covering the both of them.  The audience cheered wildly.  Suddenly, the music stopped and they were instructed to line back up.   We all applauded and cheered a little more.

We all calmed down, and the announcer geared up to announce the placings.  The judges walked a sheet of paper up to the podium, the announcer took it, opened it up, looked at it, and raised his head again to the microphone.  Fourth was awarded to the flabby girl who did not diet.  She accepted, the audience clapped, and she stepped to the side.  Third was awarded to the girl who seemed a little soft.  She also accepted, the audience clapped, and she stepped to the side.  It was at this point when Liz grabbed my arm a little tighter.  There was a pause.  The announcer grabbed the microphone.  And, announced the second place winner to...  I looked over to Liz, she sat at the edge of her seat and stared blankly to the stage with her mouth wide open.

The announcer continued from his pregnant pause, “Second place goes to …competitor number twenty-eight, Laurie Azzoto!”  There was a loud cheering throughout the audience as Charlene accepted first place in the Middleweight class.

Liz smiled, giggled, and cheered.  After we calmed down a little, I noted to her that now, Charlene was eligible to compete in the overall women’s title.  The overall title is a comparison of the winners from all the different weight classes.

The night continued on.  Charlene did not win the overall title.  Oh well.  It was a good show though.  We went along with a batch of competitors to Applebee’s for a meal afterwards.  After all these weeks of dieting down, Charlene ordered a cheeseburger and fries – probably tasted like heaven to her.

The biggest surprise in all of this was that Liz has decided to take on her exercise program more seriously.  She does not intend to compete in a bodybuilding contest, but really has seen the results that one is able to achieve, through a structured balanced program of training, nutrition, and rest.
 

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