The Real New Hampshire Compulsion

Here’s the agreement that Todd and I came up with after our hike. Word of warning, folks, the rare air in New Hampshire can make you do silly things.

Whereas, the participants in this challenge acknowledge that they have listened to the Judge John Hodgman podcast and whereas they recognize the repeated exhortations of the right honorable judge that agreements must be well documented and clear, said participants hereby set forth to document the targets, conditions, and prizes of the challenge that shall be known henceforth as The New Hampshire Compulsion.

The participants (Todd R. Chandler (“Todd”) and Chris P. Gemignani (“Chris”)) are embarking on a ten year challenge to complete certain physical challenges.

• Todd will by September 1, 2023 have completed 50 (fifty) marathons subject to certain conditions.
• Chris will by that same date have placed in the top 10% in his age group in the CrossFit Open competition subject to certain conditions.

Todd’s conditions

• Todd will receive credit for completed marathons only. If he drops out at mile 25, he will not receive credit. If he crawls or is carried across the finish line, he will receive credit for one marathon.
• Should Todd participate in ultramarathon events, each increment of 25 miles will count as one marathon. That is, if Todd participates in a 50 mile ultramarathon and reaches the finish line, he will receive credit for 2 marathons.
• Only official events count, should he leave the house and run 26.2 miles, that is a laudable accomplishment but is worth 0 marathons.
  The marathons do not have to be run in different states for that is crazy-tough.
• Todd has completed 5 marathons as of the time of this Compulsion and they count towards the 50 total marathons goal.

Chris’ conditions

The Crossfit Open consists of 5 or 6 weekly workouts taking place in the spring of each year. Participants are grouped into 5 year age bands (40-44, 45-49, etc) and their scores can be compared. In 2013, there were roughly 5000 men in the 40-44 age group. For the purpose of calculating top 10%, Chris’ rank will be compared to all participants who complete all of the Crossfit Open events (each year about 20% of entrants drop out). For reference, Chris competed in the 2013 Crossfit Open and finished 1809 out of 4870 who finished (37.14%) (2013 Crossfit Open Results). Roughly 5460 men started the contest.

• In the event of the Crossfit Open being changed or significantly modified, Chris can complete the challenge with 5 (five) top-3 finishes in other Crossfit competitions where there are at least 10 competitors.
• In addition, Chris will compete in 10 (ten) individual Crossfit competitions. Finishing the competition is necessary for credit. These competitions can be individual, partner or team oriented.
• Crossfit competitions are defined as events that include three or more Crossfit-style workouts over the course of one or more days. Representative examples can be found here: http://www.rxcompetitions.com/.

On-track Prizes

At any point where Chris and Todd see each other and they remain “on-track” the “on-track” person will receive as a gift a six-pack or equivalent of some consumable beverage of their choice from the other competitor.

• Todd is on-track if he has completed at least 4.5 marathons per year.
• Chris is on-track if he has improved his Crossfit Open placement from the prior year or participated in at least two Crossfit competitions in the prior year.

Completion prize

If Todd or Chris accomplishes their goal prior to September 1, 2023, the other competitor will travel to their house to take them out to dinner at the location of their choice and present a final on-track prize. At this point, a speech and or a song is also encouraged.

The Mr Rogers Addendum

Both participants can win.

The Hulk Hogan Addendum

Injuries are no excuse.