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The NABBA Men's Class 2 was probably the best class of the night as it matched the legendary southern man Richard Parnham up against Aucklander Simays who's made a comeback after 4 years off the stage. And what a comeback he made. Alex was in great condition with veins on veins and looked a lot leaner through the mid section than we've seen him in the past. Pose for pose the crowd were just in awe of the muscle and how evenly matched these guys were. While Richard smiled his way through the compulsories, Alex was totally focused on his mission to take out the class over his friendly rival. In the end, Alex won it over Richard for his immaculate conditioning but give Richard a few more weeks we're sure it'll be another contest altogether. We hope these guys will have a rematch at the Nationals.
  
Alex and Richard
Talking about conditioning, Mr condition himself, Aron Noble showed us what dedication and consistancy to training and diet can do. Competing in WFF Class 4, Aron once again presented a full lean physique to take out his class and eventually the Overall over fellow conditioning machines Rede Frisby (class 3), Tom Wojcik (masters), Chris Gooch - who almost didn't make it to the stage due to stomach upset a few weeks earlier. It was also great to see the big line ups in the WFF men's classes and the talent coming through. Hopefully we will see these classes grow bigger and better in the future.
Back to the girls. It was good to see powerlifter Tania Rae Pitt-Guthrie swapping her lifting suit for the bikini and what muscles she showed in them in the extreme body class - which she won! Tania was super lean showing the quality muscle she gained through years of heavy lifting. She was ripped to bits and her conditioning was excellent too, all this topped with a multi coloured hair just incase people didn't notice her awesome muscles. Look forward to seeing her at future shows.
  
Ali, Tina and Johanna The ripped Tania! WFF boys
Ali Gascoine made a surprise appearace at the show to lineup against the improved Paula Fearnley and Donna Harvey in the Miss Athletic Masters Class. She was looking fuller than normal but still lean all the same, her and Paula were evenly matched in the upper body but Ali edged out in the legs and eventually took out the class.
In WFF Figure Class 2 Johanna Mountfort lined up against Tina Jeune-Smith. Johanna, with her grace poise and her full lean muscle, was a pleasure to watch. Her conditioning was spot on and would be hard to beat on any stage in NZ or elsewhere. We must also acknowledge how far Tina has come to be on that stage with the Figure Diva. 3 years ago Tina weighed 94kg, so she has made quite a journey to pose down with the best in the business so well done Tina!
In WFF Figure Class 1, Stephanie Walkin's great conditioning won her the class over Jenni Froggart. Both of them looked like the had a great time on stage which is what its all about.
The NABBA Women's Physique was a great watch to see the beautiful beast Lisa Bailey line up on stage against Christine Henwood who's been away from the stage for over 20 years. Christine's conditioning was fantastic but it was Lisa's mass that took out the class. Lisa looked like she's made some great improvements to her body since last year so we hope it augurs well for her international ambitions this year.
In NABBA Novice Figure we saw Kathy Burnell take the class over former Aucklander Cassandra Brwer (who paid homage to her new home with 'CHCH' embroided on her bikini) and Taryn Higgan.
Good to see some young talent emerging in NABBA Junior Men with Josh Murray and Marcel Erasmus. Josh has huge potential in the Athletic class while Marcel will be one to watch as his muscles mature and learns from his mentor Phil Kuklinski. Talking about Masters, good to see Phil (o50) lining up against the returning physique of Darren Orchard (o40), you can see the years of muscle maturity and dedication both of these guys have put into living the bodybuliding lifestyle.
In NABBA Figure, it is always a pleasure to watch the amazing Rabbit aka Annette Parnham display her full lean muscle on such a tiny frame in Class 2 lining up with Sarah Parr who competed in Class 1.
Sarah Parr has returned with some great muscle although it would've been nice if she had a wee bit more tan so they would pop in our pics! nevertheless you can see she has some quality muscle and nice lines on her athletic frame. Now do you understand why we were excited at the thought of her lining up against the formiddable Johanna Mountfort?
In summary, the Christchurch Grand Prix was run like clock work without too much stress or drama for all involved. The athletes got some fantastic prizes as reward for their hardwork with the overall winners also bagging a huge TV to take home. The venue was sold out and the audience got great value for their money seeing over 50 well conditioned athletes displaying their hardwork.
Thanks to organisers Richard and Annette Parnham and the NABBA WFF for your warm hospitality and welcoming Go Figure to your show. And to all the athletes for letting me take happy snaps of you, thank you!
See you all again soon.
Lisa, Go Figure
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