Report for BNBF Washington trip 2008

It’s still all a blur as I’m standing on stage having my photo’s taken at the BNBF British Finals with the overall winners in Glasgow. What just happened? I’m in a daze, nothing’s sinking in, and I’ve just been trying to pee for at least half an hour into a little pot!

 

Fast forward to the trip…..

 

Once I’d got my head around what winning the pro card ment, and how lucky I was, I really begun to look forward to it. Darren Vernon, Annie Ottey and I (the new breed of pro’s) began texting and calling each other every few days, then every day as we got more and more excited.

 

The night before we were all frantically packing, and cooking, and texting, and eating. Darren and I were travelling from Manchester, and Annie and Lee (her husband) were travelling from London. Apart from having my photo taken on stage with them, I didn’t really know who they were, and would have struggled to recognise them if Vicky hadn’t sent us matching BNBF Team jackets to wear…. (thank you x)

 

Wednesday

I met Darren in Manchester and we travelled to the airport (his lovely sister dropped us off). It could have been a nightmare doing a long haul with a total stranger when you’re both dieting – but Darren and I hit it off straight away. Checking in to the flight was hilarious. We both had a huge bag of food – just to sustain us on the flight.

 

Arriving in Washington (having had some of our food confiscated) we were greeted by a bunch of BNBF team jackets, Lee, Annie, Sheena, Nigel, and Andrew. Someone in the group must have been slightly more organised, because we found our way on to the shuttle bus and to the hotel – marvellous. Darren and I let the others take responsibility for this part of the travel as we had already congratulated ourselves on not missing our connecting flight in Amsterdam and actually managing to get our zombied minds and depleted bodies on to the right flight in the first place….. High five!!

 

Thursday

Darren and I visited Golds Gym – let me just say, the Americans know how to do it!! Big time! The gym was huge – really huge. There was a completely dark room with treadmills and bikes etc in. As we walked in, you just felt the temperature change and it was freezing. Fair enough we thought, for a cardio room. But it wasn’t just a cardio room, it was a cardio cinema!! There was a huge screen, and surround sound – if you did cardio in there, you’d never want to leave! Amazing!! The weights areas were something else too. It was awesome! We didn’t train, we just walked around dribbling at all the amazing stuff they had. The manager was really nice to us, and gave us free passes for when the show finished, and we bought the obligatory ‘golds gym’ t shirts and hoodie’s and made our way back to the hotel.

 

Thursday evening was the first of the posing sessions with Nigel Davies. He is the master at putting you in the best position for the judges to see your shape (and making your shape look better for the judges to see). This information proved to be invaluable to us all on stage. The room could have been intimidating full of seasoned pro’s and long term supporters who had all done this a million times, but everyone was supportive and patient. As a team of newcomers we took our criticisms on the chin and did our best. We then worked hard in our rooms to correct our mistakes before posing for a second time that evening.

 

Friday

Friday was also the first time I had done the T walk for the group. We’d cleared space in the room, and I walked up and down for ages while they told me how to walk sexy like the Americans do. It was hard to remember everything they said, but fun and frustrating at the same time.

 

As a figure girl, it was really interesting for me to begin to see what the pre show prep is like for the physique and mens classes. I was asking questions all the time, and amazed at the knowledge both Annie and Darren have of their own bodies and responses to different diet situations. Hats off, you guys know your stuff!

 

Friday night was ‘tanning night’. Lee and the other competitors were the ultimate professionals and we all pulled together when it mattered. While our tan was drying, we were hitting pose after pose after pose trying to remember what Nigel had said. This wasn’t going to be a (t)walk in the park (!!). If we wanted to do well, we knew we had to work hard for it. Quick high five for being bang on this far, and off to bed.

 

Saturday

What an early start. Annie, Lee, Darren and I settled ourselves in the backstage area and began chilling out and relaxing. We knew both Vicky and Nigel were on the judging panel, so we had a couple of friendly faces to look at when ‘showtime’ came.

 

Before we knew it, it was time. Figure Pro was first, then Physique (which they call womens’ bodybuilding), then Pro Men. Annie, Darren and I were all backstage together checking each other’s tan and pumping up. Lee was there to support us.

 

For such big classes, there weren’t many call outs. I stood on stage and felt I held my poses well, just like we’d practiced in the hotel. The morning crowd were quite reserved, but the atmosphere was good. All the girls were really nice. I’d seen pictures of a few of them on the internet. The figure girls in America could quite easily win the physique class in the uk. These girls are something else. I knew that, and realised I was a different look, probably not what the American judges would want to see. That said, I was having a ball, in another country, so might as well just do my best.

 

As soon as I came off stage, Annie was in the wings waiting to go on. I wished her luck, grabbed my jacket, and camera, checked Darren was ok, and raced round to the audience to watch. I cheered for Annie, and was so proud that she held herself so well. I thought her posing was great – we hadn’t fully appreciated the impact of Nigel’s posing sessions, but now I was beginning to understand. Annie was brilliant – so well composed and stage happy. I was proud.

 

Next up were Darren, Kerry and Raymond. They were all in the men’s pro so would be competing against each other, and 18 other’s. That’s right, 21 competitors in the same class, all pro’s, and all huge!! From the beginning Darren held his poses as if he had done nothing else his whole life. He was a machine at the back of the stage holding his front relaxed pose, remembering what Nigel had said ‘relax, but don’t relax’. He immediately stood out. I cheered and cheered. Annie had now raced round to see Darren, Kerry and Raymond on stage. Every time one of our boys were called out, Annie and I went mad. The crowd were by now warming up, and American’s were beginning to cheer too. Annie was great, cheering and offering reminders ‘glutes Darren….yep, you’ve got it’. I really had nothing useful to say, just made a lot of noise and let them know we were there. Raymond James held himself well, and had a few call outs with Darren. He was also following the advice of posing master Nigel, so although they have very different physiques, they stood well and looked the ultimate professionals. Kerry Napier didn’t immediately shine, although did step up later in the round. His posing got better throughout as I would imagine Nigels’ words were echoing around his head. The boys did so well. It can’t be easy being up against people you know in such a big competition. They were on stage forever. I was still in tan with no jewellery so can’t give you an accurate time, but I’d say at least an hour. Annie and I were so proud that Darren had held his stance all the time it wasn’t his turn. When it was his turn he had performed his poses with precision and accuracy. He had learnt so much in such a short space of time, yet managed to perfectly perform it under pressure in such a competitive environment. I knew I wouldn’t be able to offer him any idea of where I thought he’d placed in terms of the American judges, but in the eyes of Annie and I, he couldn’t have worked any harder up there and we were in awe.

 

As soon as he came off, we raced backstage to find him. That was it now. In America, 100% judging is placed on the quarter turns and symmetry rounds. So as of now, the judges knew our places and the routines and t walk could do nothing to change them. The routines were purely to give a best presentation award. So in effect, some of the pressure was off. Our physiques were no longer being judged. We headed back to the hotel to chill out, as the evening show wasn’t for ages yet.

 

Before we knew it, time was up, and the taxi was here to take us back to the venue. As I went on for my t walk I tried to remember what Nigel had told me, and did my best. In fairness, it wasn’t the best I had done it, but it was ok. I came off happy that I’d done ok, air kissed Annie and Darren waiting in the wings, and raced round to cheer them from the front.

 

Annie’s routine was professionally performed, and she moved into each pose seemingly effortlessly. Not an ounce of nerves, and held with grace and composure. I raced backstage after to congratulate her, checked Darren was ok before his, and to take Annie to where Lee was sitting.

 

I watched Raymond’s routine from the wings where I was waiting with Darren so he wasn’t on his own. I didn’t know he could back flip! Gave him a good cheer for that! Then went front of house to see Darren’s. I found a spot in the middle so I could film, knowing Annie would cheer her heart out. Darren’ s routine was fantastic. His back looked immense in his starting pose, and he won the crowd over with his performance. People around me were talking and asking ‘where’d this guy come from?’ ‘Damn, I gotta go train in England – they must put something in the water there!’ ‘This dude’s impressive maaaan!’. I realised he must have done well, as the crowd had warmed to him and were cheering him too. “Go number 133…” As soon as he came off, Annie and I legged it backstage again for more air kisses and a high five!

 

We were nearly done now. Just had to go back for the awards. I knew I wasn’t in the top 5. I had no idea how Annie had done as I was so busy watching how well she was doing her poses, I had forgotten to pay attention to the other competitors. I knew out of all of us, Darren was definitely top 5. I based this on the crowd’s reaction to him, and the fact that his condition was out of this world. Annie and I went backstage together to wait for my category to be called. I didn’t make the top 5. I wasn’t disappointed as I felt I’d done well to be here at all, and had loved the experience. More air kisses for Darren as I whizzed past, then straight into the hall and onto the front row (still in bikini – I must have looked a right twit!) to cheer them. I almost sat on the seat, before realising I’d get dream tan on it (and it was a posh venue) so I got Lee to give me his jacket (bless him) and sat on it!! Annie’s group were called on, she didn’t make the top 5, but had done amazing in such a strong line up in another country. Next up, the boys. I sat in awe of Darren’s physique as the line up came out. There were 21 guys here. I knew in my heart that he should make the top 5, but didn’t know if they were looking for size or condition after that. They called him out in the top 5 and Lee and I went mad on the front row. Then they gave 5th place to someone, then 4th. Darren had come in the top 3!! Woah. Then they called 3rd place – David Lovelace from Florida. Oh my god – Darren was top 2! We were beside ourselves. The commentator said ‘Who do you wanna win?’ to the crowd – they all cheered ‘Remo’ the local guy Kareem Petteway who never loses. 2nd place goes to…… Kareem Petteway!! Darren had done it. His first pro show, after only 5 weeks of being a pro, and he’s smashed it! Beaten the Americans at their own game! We couldn’t stop cheering!

 

We raced backstage to cheer our boy, and he was in shock. No high five this time, just a massive hug! The rest of the team piled in to take a team picture, tell us the after show party was in a restaurant up the road, and disappeared to it. Annie, Lee and I stood with Darren waiting for enough water to make itself through his system so he could pee for his test. We got to the restaurant, found the others and set about celebrating with American food!! What a land to be in when you stop dieting – ha ha.

 

At the end of the meal, the others got a ride back to the hotel leaving champion Darren, Lee, Annie and I to make our way back in one of the world’s most unreliable taxi’s. After 45mins, and several phone calls to the taxi firm the restaurant was closed and the staff were leaving. One of the staff took pity on us, and offered to take us to our hotel. Awwww.

 

Annie, Lee, Darren and I stayed up chatting for hours, and hooked up our lap tops to compare and share photo’s we’d taken so we all had a copy of everything. We set about the mammoth task of removing dream tan, and emailing people we knew in turns. Before we knew it, it was 6am, and since the hotel breakfast opened at 6:30am, we figured sleeping was useless, and staying awake was a much better option!! So we re-woke Annie and Lee, who had slept a little, got Raymond from Darren’s room, and headed down for breakfast, still with Darren’s trophy in hand to show the hotel staff.

 

Sunday

Hot American waffles for breakfast – yum! All the staff were buzzing, wanting their photo taken with the trophy and asking all about it. Other competitors staying there were coming up to congratulate Darren. It was a lovely atmosphere. After breakfast, we packed, and got ready to go.

 

This time at check in we didn’t have diet food, but we did have a colossal trophy! American’s were passing, looking at the trophy, and shouting “congratulations maaan”, even though they had no idea what it was for. How nice. Some people stopped and asked about it, all were impressed, and I felt honoured to know Darren, and to have been part of it. Checking our bags in, I stood on the bag weighing machine – 123lbs. Not bad – I’d gained 10lbs in 24hours (some of that would have been clothing and trainers, keys etc). I’d like to think the rest of it was those breakfast waffles! The guy waived our $50 heavy bag charge because he liked Darren’s trophy! Mega.

 

The flight came and went in a blur, and the enormity of what Darren had just done was finally beginning to sink in for him. We touched down in Manchester, and waited for a ride from his sister. We had done it. Made it through 4 flights together, got to the right places at the right times, and pulled it out of our arses when posing mattered the most. Annie, Lee, Darren and I had become like family. We could have asked for a better group of people to be thrown together in such an amazing situation and result. We felt we had achieved more than we ever set out for. We’d made it through the stresses and strains of travelling, posing practices, tan on, more tan on, tan off again, dieting, not dieting, tears, smiles, and stage. I can honestly say it’s a trip I’ll never forget. It had every emotion possible. I met some amazing people and will be honoured to call them friends from now on.

 

High five.

 

Thank you’s

Thank you to all the BNBF team for their support and encouragement throughout the trip. You all played a huge part and we all appreciate having you there. Special thanks to Vicky for always being on the end of the phone, and generally organising us xx