Starting on April 26, teams of six at Nepean CrossFit will sweat it out during the ‘24 Hours of Heroes’ fundraising event raising money for charity Wounded Heroes Australia.
Beau Whitton approached Nepean CrossFit owners Dan Olford and Maxine Burnett-Prasad with the idea of a 24-hour event at the end of 2020.
The idea was met with excitement and the intent to do it for a good cause.
“We got brainstorming and we thought surely this has been done before so we looked at what other people had done to get some ideas and inspiration,” Olford said.
“We came across a group in Canada who had been doing a ’24 Hours of Heroes’ event for four or five years.
“They were more than happy to share their event with us and allow us to run it here.”
In 2021, the gym ran its first event and raised $20,000, and by the next year, more gyms found out about the fundraiser.
“We had four gyms the second year and raised a little over $110,000, then in 2023, even more gyms found out about it, and we increased to 24 gyms and raised $307,000 which blew us away and exceeded our expectations,” Olford explained.
“Then last year, we had 32 gyms, and we expanded across to New Zealand with a couple of gyms over there and overall, we raised $330,000.
“This year we have 41 gyms, and the tally is sitting at about $185,000 at the moment.”
Every team that signs up is given a default fundraising goal of $600, which they can exceed.
“Every gym does it at the same time, regardless of the time zone. For example, we start at 8am here while WA starts at 6am,” Whitton pointed out.
“You can ring any one of the 40 gyms doing it at any one time and we’d all be doing the same workout,” Olford finished.
The solidarity and support shared by the gyms is comparable to the camaraderie shared by Defence personnel and first responders.
“This is a fundraising event, but it’s also a way to remember these men and women that are no longer with us,” Olford stated.
“It’s also about personnel who have exited those organisations, because they go from having quite a tight-knit support group and routine, and a lot of that disappears and they often lose a bit of their identity and their purpose in life.
“One of our goals is to highlight gyms that can be places for these guys and girls to go and be part of a community.”
You can donate online at https://24hoh2025.raiselysite.com/donate.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.