Member Of The Month – June 2026
Our June MOTM goes to the always colourful Laura Richmond!
Laura has been doing really well recently with her training, she has been pushing herself out of her comfort zone, getting heavier lifts, building confidence on her snatch, and achieving gymnastics milestones. She also has a tendency to not believe in herself and talk negatively about her abilities but recently has been working on this and being more positive. If you’ve never met Laura she is the one who is always wearing bright colours (with her competition partner Una!) and often dancing in the middle of a WOD. Laura first started with us in MumWod, and then progressed to the normal classes despite being really scared and since then she has come on so much. Have a read to find out more about her CrossFit journey so far…
M – How long have you been doing CrossFit?
LR – I first started Crossfit by joining MumWod twice, during maternity leave in August 2018 then again in February 2021. I was then finally brave enough to sign up for the Beginners Course at the end of Mat Leave and had my first proper Crossfit Class on 22nd March 2022. Now here we are 4years 3months and 13days later, approximately 558 classes (😝), 4 Crossfit Opens, 2 M Powered Days, 2 Battle Cancer Comps, and about to have fun on my 3rd MSQD Comp.
M– What class time do you usually attend and why does that work for you?
LR – I used to be one of the 6AM crew, going to that class every week day before work because I mostly worked from home and the crew are just ace. But after a career change at the beginning of the year you’ll now usually find me in the evening classes and Cardio Club on a Saturday. I start work at 8am so these classes fit in well around work and the boys activities. (I’m not sure the 6AM crew are happy with the replacement Richmond though 🤣).
M– What is your why? Why do you put yourself through it each day? Do you have goals you want to achieve?
LR – So many Why’s including being a role model to my two boys showing them that women can be strong, not to be afraid to try and fail, and that sometimes the things we really want take time, hard work and patience but that’s what makes them worth it. But my biggest why is probably doing something for me. Having that time and space to just be me and see what I can do is so special. MSQD is such an incredible place and getting to throw down with you all every class is such an amazing thing and no matter what the workout is being in it together is the best feeling. I always have some goals that I want to achieve, at the moment they include continuing to work on pull-ups to help get Chest-to-bar, keep working on my snatch technique and master those double unders. In the long term I want to be able to always keep up with the boys. Also secretly hoping make it onto the podium for the summer comp 🤞🏻
M– What advice would you give anyone wanting to start CrossFit but is either unsure or nervous? We get people all the time saying they need to get fit first or they could never do what we do? Any advice for those people?
LR – I’d say that used to be me. I was continually asked (nagged) by Daniel to try Crossfit and consistently told him that I couldn’t do Crossfit, I wasn’t strong enough, was to unfit and so nervous about being slow. It took having two babies to finally give it a try and (don’t tell him he was right) but the moment I joined I wish I had sooner. I never believed when he said each workout could be scaled to suit everyone and genuinely believed I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I was so wrong, my first class back in March 2022 involved box jumps and thrusters which I scaled to step ups and an empty bar. So if you are also that person then I can guarantee you are exactly where you need to be to join. Everything is absolutely scalable, you will be surrounded by the most supportive crew and you will absolutely love it and wish you had joined sooner to.
M What is your biggest achievement so far in CrossFit and what are you most proud of?
LR – So many achievements so far (including being made CrossFit Wanker 3 times and now MOTM 😁) but I’d say my biggest was going RX in all of this years Crossfit Open workouts as it really made me feel how far I have come over the last 4 years. All that hard work and pushing myself out of my comfort zone to not be scared to fail really does pay off.
M – You have come on so much! Well done Laura. Great job and great blog!
