The CrossFit Nomad. Greg Lukas WODs His Way Through 100 Boxes in 365 Days

The CrossFit box is a special place. It’s a safe haven where life’s stresses evaporate and the only limitations are self-imposed. Most of us choose one and stick with it. Not Greg Lukas. This 42-year-old biotech pharma professional’s goal is larger than a sub two-minute Fran or mastery of Murph. He intends to visit 100 CrossFit boxes in 2012 and turn his experiences into a book.

And he’s almost there.

Based in Wilmington, North Carolina but currently residing in Boston, Massachusetts for work, Lukas is a lifetime athlete. “Because of my love of athletics, a good friend took me to CrossFit Obsession in Virginia Beach eight years ago,” he says. “I had no idea what it was, and it was a humbling experience. I didn’t return to CrossFit until years later when my ex-girlfriend introduced me to it again.”

Unfortunately, he found that consistent training at Port City CrossFit in Wilmington was impossible due to the travel requirements of his career. In a different city virtually every week, Lukas decided to listen when a friend suggested he drop in on other boxes. “My first experience was at Brazen Athletics/CrossFit Link in New Jersey,” he says. “Kristy Link and Jason Schroeder, the owners, treated me like family and started my love for travel WODing.”

While he continues to visit Boston’s Reebok CrossFit Back Bay, his new home base, whenever possible, Lukas is committed to his project. As of early December, he had 86 boxes under his belt. “I have 14 to go,” he says. “If at all possible, I’d like to take the last week of the year and hit as many as I can on the West Coast. I haven’t been to the home land of CrossFit in Santa Cruz yet. I feel I’m missing a lot by not getting out there.”

What is it that has Lukas hooked on traveling workouts? It’s not the instructors’ creative WODs, even those that include ‘wobble’ dance warm ups and handstands in bulletproof vests and gas masks. No, it’s the philosophy and culture of the Sport of Fitness. “My personal belief is that people are generally good, and if I look for the best in others, I will find the best of myself. These philosophical orientations seem to be the crux of the true CrossFit culture.”

“Everyone asks ‘What’s the BEST box you’ve been to?’ It’s a really hard question to answer,” he continues. “They have all been amazing in their own way. Some are very polished and professional; some are dirty and rag-tag; some are huge, some super-small.  But they all share the CrossFit culture of an egoless, accepting, supportive, and encouraging community open even to an outsider like me, who is just passing through.”