For Leo Jenkins, the moment that stood out from the inaugural CrossFit competition at the Rocky Mountain State Games had nothing to do with final outcome.

Instead, it came from the back of the pack.

A competitor who had never lifted more than 125 pounds in the power clean was required to do 185 in a specific workout. As the crowd came to a crescendo of support, he managed not one but multiple reps.

“The people who are spectating have all done it,” said Jenkins, a former firefighter, Army Ranger, MMA fighter and pioneer of CrossFit, which was added to the State Games schedule for the first time this year. “It would be like going to a college football game and everyone in the stands had played high school football. They would appreciate it like that.

“When he got it, he crowd erupted. It was palpable. It was awesome to see that.”

So, CrossFit has a tight-knight community. But what is it?

CrossFit was developed in 2000 as a series of cross-training disciplines that incorporate all kinds of body movements into relatively short, intense workouts — everything from Olympic weightlifting, running, throwing, gymnastics movements, swimming, rope climbing … really anything that a body can do.

In competitions, athletes often don’t know what they’ll be asked to do until they arrive at the venue. At the State Games, which split its CrossFit workouts into three Saturday and three more Sunday, they were asked to do 20-meter shuttle sprints, three 400-meter runs (with 15 185-pound squats in between), a 30-foot rope climb, Olympic weightlifting, throwing and some gymnastics elements.

The men’s winner was Cody Jameson of Colorado Springs, while the women’s title went to Emily Moore, a firefighter from Denver.

The sport draws participants from all ages and walks of life. Firefighters and active duty military members find it useful to stay in peak shape, as do high school, college and professional athletes (the Miami Marlins use the workouts). Some distance athletes use it to add strength and some elderly competitors have given it a try just do something different.

“There’s people who can’t do a single push-up who come in our gym, and there’s a place for them,” said Jenkins, who owns a gym in lower downtown Denver.

Jenkins was introduced to CrossFit nine years ago and used it to train while serving as an Army Ranger and MMA fighter. When an injury overseas forced him to retire as a fighter six years ago, he became a CrossFit instructor.

When Jenkins started CrossFit he said there were 12 gyms that offered it in the world. There are now, by his count, more than 120 just in Colorado.

“It’s very, very difficult to get bored with it because of the variety,” Jenkins said. “There’s never a shortage of things to improve on. It’s just kind of human nature to always find that next challenge.”

Above all, Jenkins said, the draw is the attachment with other CrossFit competitors because it is still a small enough community that many people know each other.

And that was why he and everyone else watching the event at Fort Carson on Sunday stood and watched a man pull 185 pounds from the floor to his chest in a moment of exhilaration shared by them all.

“You can’t help but be encouraged and inspired by that,” Jenkins said. “I was technically competing against that guy, but all I wanted was to see him complete that lift.”