Former CFO In Wilmington The 'Fittest On Earth'?

LYNNFIELD, MA — Think you're in shape? Don't try to compare yourself to Thomas Ackerman.

The 63-year-old Lynnfield resident and member of the new Gymja CrossFit facility in Woburn placed 10th in his division last week at the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games in Wisconsin in a bid to become the “Fittest on Earth.”

Ackerman's been around the circuit before - this his third trip to the four-day games. He was one of 20 qualifiers out of about 2,200 worldwide to qualify for the the Masters Division (60+.) Ackerman finished third in 2014 and 11th in 2015. He tied with a Washington man to become the the oldest finisher in the Top 10 this year (we didn't count days.)

Boy, what a career. Right? Right??

"I look forward to continuing to work out and improve, with the goal of returning to the games next year," Ackerman said.

He qualified for this year's games via two February competitions, then survived a five-week series of workouts that whittled field to 200, then four more workouts that crafted the final 20.

"Tom is the epitome of what happens when one of our members puts his or her mind to something and backs it up with hard work and dedication," said Gymja CrossFit owner Shahab Afsharian. "He’s an inspiration to all us at Gymja CrossFit and we’re proud to be his home gym."

Ackerman, a four-year CrossFit athlete, retired as CFO at Charles River Labs in Wilmington this year and has been a CrossFit athlete for four years.