By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

IT was another day in the office as professional bodybuilder Dawn Charlton made the trek to California to compete in the Battle of the Bay in Union City on Saturday.

The legal assistant at Providence Law, encouraged by her coach Paul Riveria to do one more show this year, competed in the bikini division where she placed ninth out of a field of 20 competitors.

“I left work at 2pm on Friday, jumped on the plane and reached Union City around 11:30pm,” Charlton said. 

“I jumped on the stage on Saturday around 2 o’clock and was done at 5 and was flying on Sunday from 4 until 7am to get back to work.”

The 5-foot, 7-inch former soccer player and track and field athlete for the SC McPherson Sharks said although this was just her second pro show since she earned her card this year, she was thrilled with her performance. 

“This is definitely the last one for the year. I am done. It’s time to take a break,” said Charlton, who has been competing as a bikini competitor for the past four years.

Charlton started out as a fitness competitor for seven years. 

The show over the weekend came after Charlton made her pro debut last month at the Fort Lauderdale Atlantic Coast Pro Show where she was sixth in another field of 20 competitors in the masters bikini class. She said she just had to increase her carb load in between the two shows. “The competition was good. I really enjoyed it,” Charlton stressed. “There was an amateur segment and then the pro segment, but there was only the bikini segment.

“This was one of the fastest shows that I’ve ever been to. Usually the bikini is last. We go after everybody. Slo it was kind of a change. We just did what we had to do and came off stage.”

During the show, Charlton said she made some acquaintances with some really “nice girls” and she also had one of her international team-mates from Team Physique.

“I feel really good. I set out to do what I wanted to do,”:she pointed out. “I wanted to get my pro card and I achieved that. 

“Then I wanted to test my ability against the best pros out there, the international athletes out there around the world. So I feel really good about my accomplishments.”

Charlton earned her pro card by winning the overall women’s fitness title at the North American Championships in Pittsburgh in 2014 after she originally got it at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in St Maarten that same year, but it was rescinded.

Now that she’;s tested the waters as a pro competitor, Chrlton said during the off season, she will continue to work out in the gym at MacFit360 Fitness and Performance Centre West as she increases her calorie intake as she maintains her weight.

Charlton is hop[ing to get back on stage in the new year between April or May, once she consults with her coach in preparation for the upcoming season.