After 27 years in prison, Trevor Jones competes in the quarter-finals | BarBend

Trevor Jones has been doing the CrossFit Open workouts for the past eight years, but only registered for the first time this season.

That’s because Jones played his other seven Opens amid a 27-year prison sentence in Colorado after being convicted of murder when he was 17.

• I was involved in one homicide for an arms deal gone bad, and a 16-year-old boy lost his life, Jones tells Morning Chalk Up, describing what happened in 1996. Jones says he was trying to swindle a boy who was selling him and his friends a gun 100 dollars

According to Jones, pulling the trigger was an accident, a fatal accident, but one that has made it difficult for Jones, now 45, to ever forgive himself.

• Have I forgiven myself? This is one of the trickiest questions of my life, and I’ll be honest, probably notFor me to forgive myself, I’m not sure it ultimately makes sense, says Jones, who was released from prison in June 2023.

Jones hasn’t been able to forgive himself, but now that he’s a free man again, he does his best to live a life that gives back to others. He has been giving back largely through CrossFit and the owner of Mach983 CrossFit in Aurora, CO, Fred Dayton.

[Related: Of Moms and Masters Athletes: 6 Inspiring Women Who Just (Unofficially) Qualified for the CrossFit Semifinals]

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When Jones was incarcerated at the Limen Correctional Facility in Lincoln Country, CO, he became involved with the Redemption Road Fitness Foundation. This non-profit organization started in Limon in 2017 and offers exercise-based rehabilitation and Level 1 and 2 certifications to people who are or have been incarcerated.

Thanks to Redemption Road, which brought teams and volunteer coaches to the prison, Jones was introduced to CrossFit when he was incarcerated. This allowed her to focus on something positive and healthy during this dark world, she says.

• Sometimes CrossFit was the only thing that made sense to me, says Jones.

If someone was having a particularly rough day, Jones and his friends would do burpees together, providing the physical release or distraction to get through that moment, he explains. After a couple rounds of dead burpees, and you don’t care what’s going on in your life.

• CrossFit gave me something stable almost every day to participate inthat brought me today. I am here today because of what CrossFit did for me [in prison]add.

Redemption Road also allowed Jones to complete his Level 1 and Level 2 certifications in 2018 and 2019. When he was released last June, Dayton hired him as a trainer at Mach983 CrossFit in Aurora, CO.

A new beginning

Jones admits that, after spending 27 years behind bars, the transition to his new life in recent months has not always been easy. Socially, technologically and financially, I’m still trying to figure out a lot, Jones admits.

• I feel like the last eight or nine months have been a constant session, he says. I have to learn everything all day long. It’s been pretty intense. The rhythm of life has been one of the elements to which it has been difficult to adjust.

But if it weren’t for the support he’s received, especially from Dayton and others at CrossFit, the transition would have been much more difficult.

• Having CrossFit in her life has also helped he figures out his purpose: to invest in the lives of others, he says.

He does this by volunteering with Redemption Road, working as a Peer Support Specialist, and training youth at Mach983 CrossFit who enter through Forging Youth Resilience (FYR), an organization that provides fitness and mentorship to disadvantaged and disadvantaged youth. Jones explains that many of the children in the program come from very difficult situations.

[As] As crazy as it may sound, just working with other people with high-intensity, constantly varied functional movements can give them something much more than just a good workout, he says.

• Jones adds: I love having the opportunity to model a better way to have fun and participate in the good things in the world, which I felt I missed out on as a very troubled child.

For Jones, too, working out gives her much more than a good workout.

• How CrossFit reaches communities in needwhat people do for each in the gym every day and outside the gym. I know the power that CrossFit has to change people’s lives for a long time, says Jones. We have a lot to offer, and I think that’s where the real magic and real value of what we do lies.

But of course, it’s also fun to see your fitness improve over time, and in Jones’ case, it was also exciting to compete in the Open for the first time officially and qualify for the quarterfinals in the male 45 to 49 division. . He finished tied for 1,222 out of approximately 2,400 in his division. His best practice was Practice 4, where he finished 638 with a score of 27 (tie-breaker: 4:03).

While doing well in the quarter-finals was a goal, it’s not really what it’s about. He does it because after 27 years he can, he finally can.

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Featured Image: Fred Dayton