Tomorrow’s our big screening of the Dooster made film “Showing Up” powered by The North Face. The film highlights eight November Project tribe members from around the world and how November Project has impacted their lives. As we learn about these amazing individuals, most of whom we have never even met, we also want to highlight some of the beautiful people we see each week at NP Indy.
Frank Minor (aka Frank Loui Tagatac Minor, aka Frank the Tank, aka Tank) is one of those beautiful people. Frank embodies the heart and soul of our expression #justshowup. He is the competitive, in-your-face tribe member that will either fire you up or make you laugh. Either way, you’re getting energized by this guy. He is the crazy, loud, motivating, and proud firecracker of a Filipino that helped keep me (Casey) coming back when I first gave NP a whirl.
And Frank is the real deal. No offense to Frank Ricard (Will Ferrell) and other Franks out there, but there’s only one real Frank the Tank, and we’ve got him right here in Indy! Frank is an actual tank, no simile. Check this out:
News article: https://www.wthr.com/article/man-in-critical-condition-baby-uninjured-after-east-indianapolis-crash
Upper left; This is what happens to cars when they drive towards Frank. That’s not true. What is true is that Frank was driving that car along the highway when it was struck head-on by a commercial landscaping truck with an asleep-at-the-wheel driver. Frank was the “man . . . in critical condition” in that WTHR news article headline. What’s also true is that Frank’s nine-month-old son, Preston, was sitting in the backseat.
Somehow, emergency crews pulled a mashed and mangled Frank out of that car. They delicately pulled Preston from that wreck as well. Fortunately, both survived. But while Frank was torn to shreds, Preston was nearly unscathed. You know why? It’s because in the split second it took for that crash to happen, Frank had the instinctual sense to lunge backwards and protect his son. That’s one hell of a dad.
Frank brings that same sense of altruism with him to each and every workout, and he ALWAYS has. He is out there, half man, half machine, all Tank, kicking his own ass (or at least what’s left of it) and making sure others are kicking their own too. After the collision, Frank was, needless to say, out of commission for awhile. In fact, it was supposed to be a year before we got to see Frank dine on the delicacy that is stairs for breakfast again. . . . He showed back up in a third that time. Over the course of those months he missed though, Frank’s NP tribe had his back and he had ours. Normally, Frank would come to Wednesday workouts and do a double, which is both workouts back-to-back. So while he was gone, we carried his load. As we took turns “doing a double for Frank”, Frank was there in spirit, still kicking our asses. And despite losing body parts and breaking most of the rest, as he details below, Frank kept at his rehab, is back at NP, and is well on his way to a full recovery!
Admittedly, working out can really suck sometimes, but if you’re ever in need of a little inspiration, turn to Frank. If Frank’s not around, just channel the inspirational message of his story. He’s a Tank, and he’s an incredibly valuable part of our outfit, our NP Indy tribe. This is Frank’s story:
I’m Frank and the tribe calls me Tank. I’m 27 yrs old, married to my beautiful, very supportive wife Jhen and a living hero of 2 yrs old, Preston. I love to run, from road to trail to mud, from 5k to ultra. I’m now adding cycling to my list. I will fully be back doing what I love sometime soon.
November Project……. I got started with this great tribe (or as I call it, my family) through Bobbie Werbe, NP Indy’s founder. I met Bobbie during a Wisconsin-Chicago Ragnar Relay while I was there competing with my other family called Team Ninja. When Bobbie learned that I was from Indianapolis, she gave me this little paper cut into a circle. It had lots of writing on it like “free workout”, “free hugs”, “free sweats”, and so on. She kept going on about this thing, telling me “it’s just once a week on Wednesday morning at Indiana War Memorial at 0615”.
June 11, 2014 was my first day with the tribe. Yup, as you all know, it feels weird during this first time, hugging and working out with strangers. But that never stopped me from coming back and getting to know this group and working out with them. I’ve been around this tribe, this family long enough that I still remember when NP Indy was new and only had the 0615 workout. I was always there. I loved this group and how open and welcoming they were… and still are. I enjoyed working out with this group so much that after my 12-15hr shift on the ambulance at night I’d do a double workout in the morning. I’m trying to explain it better here, but I just can’t find the right words to show how I love this tribe. Not only do they care about everyone that shows up, but they also care about your family.
On Aug 18, 2015, this Tank had a serious accident and no one ever thought I’d be here again. I mean, look at that picture. Broken left femur, cracked neck, complete rupture on right Achilles, lots of deep lacerations and degloving on my right leg, cracked ribs from right to left, punctured right lung, chest tube, punctured kidney, knocked out 3 front teeth, missing toe, major emergency surgeries, then multiple outpatient surgeries after that. I heard that Bobbie stayed all night at the hospital until I got out of surgery. Members from the tribe came by and visited me at the hospital too. I don’t remember all of it, but what I do remember is telling myself that I’ll be back on those stairs.
Seeing the Facebook pictures of the workout every Wednesday and knowing that someone was doing a double workout for me was one of the keys for my fast recovery. I was in the wheelchair for about 3 months, then walker, then cane. Made it through lots of PT by telling myself not to give up and with tribe members keeping me sane.
Why do I keep coming back every Wednesday? I still don’t know why, but I know this group is so incredible, very supportive, and that they truly care who you are. So Dec of 2015, 4 months after my accident, I was back hitting the stairs and doing the workout, feeling the support, the love, and the care they have for me. What I felt most was how they welcomed me and everyone else.
For me and my experience with this tribe, I don’t just call them my workout buddies; myself, my wife Jhen, and my little one Preston consider this tribe family. You all know what you all did for me, and I don’t know how to thank you all, and I just want to let you all know NOVEMBER PROJECT impacted my life in A LOT of ways from the start until now.
As I kept telling myself through rehab and as I tell myself anytime I’m faced with a challenge, “It’s all in your head. You can do everything you put your mind to.”
-Tank
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