They say it’s the quiet ones that you have to watch. RTC member Kevin Jones just might be one of those people. He describes himself as quiet and laid back, but also mentions that if you work out next to him, “you will hear the craziest things.” Turns out that Kevin’s “crazy things” are really just a whole lot of swearing. Friend Jon Miller calls it a “muffled potty mouth,” which seems to be most apparent whenever there’s running or burpees in the WOD. This potty mouth routine might be part of his comedic flair, as Kevin notes that he “turns everything into a joke…the only thing that matters is if I think it’s funny.”
Potty mouth and humor aside, Kevin comes to the gym ready to work hard and crush his goals. He’s been a member of RTC for a little over a year, joining after he attended the grand opening event, where he says he was immediately impressed with the clean facilities and the welcoming atmosphere. Kevin stayed active at both Stow High School and Kent State University, participating in HIIT workouts and pick-up basketball games, but after graduating college, he “got in a two year rut of not working out.” It was perfect timing for the coaches at RTC to get him active again.
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AUTHOR: STEPH IRWIN
Kevin attended a class at a CrossFit gym a few years ago, but found the atmosphere uninviting and the coaches not helpful to someone new to barbell work. This is not what he found at RTC. “RTC really helped me get back into the swing of working out,” he says. “They actually care about making sure I am doing it right. All coaches feel approachable and I’m not afraid to bug them.” Kevin believes that a little “fitness bullying” works, too. “I’ll always remember Coach Lauren coming over to me while I was on the air runner, saying, ‘You’re running the mile outside. Get out there.’” He continues, “I complain the workouts are hard, but that is part of the fun.”
A goal that Kevin enjoys working on is improving all of his Olympic lifts, especially the power clean & jerk. “I had to get used to dropping weight on the ground,” he says, “but when you get a heavy lift and drop the weight it has a satisfying sound.” His least favorite goal to work on is running. “I just want to run better…not for time or distance, but just to be better.”
Outside of the gym, Kevin works as a forecasting specialist in Purchasing at Ramco Specialties, an automotive nut and bolt company. He started there as an intern while he was at Kent State, and after graduating in 2017 with a finance degree, was hired as a quality engineer. He has been in his current position for the past 2 years.
Kevin has one sister who lives in Maine, and he says that “dogs are my life.” His red fox labrador Ruby “acts a lot like a cat…she is independent and wants to climb on the back of couches and get in baskets of laundry to sleep. She would much rather play with dogs than be concerned with people.” And Kevin has clearly found the perfect match with his fiance Lauren, a designer and traveling photographer for US Acute Care Solutions, who he says loves animals, and hopes to open an animal shelter one day. “Her dream is to have a house full of large dogs and a few goats.”
Kevin and Lauren, who met at Kent State and have been together for 5 years, are planning a December 27 wedding at Brookside Farms. Kevin tells this story of their engagement, which he says best summarizes their relationship:
“We got engaged on Sept. 12, 2018 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. We were there to see the Yayoi Kusama featured exhibit. We went there right after work, so we had to push dinner back awhile. I could not propose in the exhibit because that would draw too many eyes and would make it more nerve wracking. After we walked through the exhibit, I suggested we see the rest of the museum so we didn’t have to drive home in rush hour. Lauren was very hungry, so I had to get her a cookie from the cafe so she would go to a more private section in the museum. When I finally proposed, she was very quiet, but I got her to say yes. Then I made her walk around the Modern Art section and I was making jokes about the art, but she was still in shock so she couldn’t hear any of my jokes.”
That’s a story to tell the kids someday! Congrats to Kevin for being named an RTC Featured Member, and best wishes for a lifetime of happiness to Kevin and Lauren as their wedding day approaches! Let’s just hope he can keep that “muffled potty mouth” at bay when he’s standing at the altar!
