Only 5.5 hour drive, had someone to stay with free and unlimited access with my coach's bracelet (free to me), so no waiting til opening to get in or any ticket lines. Pretty much zero reason to pass that up!
Man it is a sight. Total freak show. One of the Heavyweight Amateur men ran a 900lb yoke 60ft in 9.38 seconds! Misha Koklyaev was judging Jessica on the circus db during the Pro Women's show on the Rogue stage and I sat with him backstage and he shook my hand. She cleaned and pressed a 120db 5x before she lost her mind and missed 3 more instead of staying focused lol. But she had 7 that day I'm certain. Out pressed and stone loaded some of the heavyweight pro women even (she's a lightweight).
Saw Ray Williams 1,052. Guy is insane. Watched some of the Pro men's events like the timber carry and CDB. It really is incredible in person, the lifting. The elbow to elbow expo is ghey, but worth the battle.
Saw Donny Thompson, Brian Carroll, Ed Coan, was backstage with Mark Felix, and the most awkward person to talk to was Matt Vincent - he was very cool but it's weird knowing so much personal stuff daily but not actually knowing him.