"THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF RECOVERY IS EFFORT AND WE TRAIN THAT."

In a community ravaged by the opioid crisis, the PORTSMOUTH SPARTAN KETTLEBELL CLUB builds a different form of strength.

- BY ROBERT WEINTRAUB

PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, HOLDS the unfortunate crown of "Opioid Crisis Capital of America." The hilly city lies 100 miles east of Cincinnati, separated from Kentucky by the Ohio River. In the early 2000s, Portsmouth was littered with pill mills, where broken-bad doctors pushed OxyContin, fentanyl, and other addictive substances. Many of these docs were eventually imprisoned for illegal distribution of opiates. The aftermath was a city rife with "boarded-up businesses, high crime rates, and a complete void of anything positive," according to native son Dale King.

King left Portsmouth in 2003 to join the army, where he spent five years, including two tours in Iraq. He returned to his hometown and was crushed to find it struggling. King's motto was "No one is coming to save us," which meant he needed to find a way for people to help themselves. He had trained on his own for years and discovered CrossFit through other soldiers in 2007. "CrossFit helps people make psychological gains as well as physical ones," he says. In 2010, he opened the Portsmouth Spartan Kettlebell Club (PSKC) in a warehouse downtown and charged $5 per workout.

POWER LUNCH Led by instructor Rickey Ellis, the Nasty Nooners grind through a WOD called Diane. Ellis (in the P-TOWN MADE shirt, lower left) says he loves seeing people step out of their comfort zone and achieve their goals. The club borrowed its motto from rocker Henry Rollins: "Pain is not my enemy; it's my call to greatness."