A 24-hour charity workout at a Cambridge gym has raised $20,000 for bone cancer research, doubling its original target of $10,000.
Hype Gym hosted the non-stop fitness event over the weekend with around 200 participants from eight gyms across Hobart rotating through six four-hour workout blocks from 10am Saturday to 10am Sunday.
Organiser Skye Carey, a staff member at the gym who put the event together alongside wife Connie, said the weekend was “absolutely phenomenal”.
Carey said more than 40 sponsors, mostly local Tasmanian businesses, backed the event.
The cause is deeply personal for Carey, whose mother has been battling bone cancer for four years.
“I think if you speak to anyone, you’ve been affected by cancer and it’s just that really helpless feeling that you have when you or a family member is going through something like this,” Carey told Pulse.
Carey said the energy never dropped during the event, even during the overnight hours.
“We expected there to be a little lull overnight, you know, the 2am crew,” she said.
“We had a silent disco happening then, so everyone was sort of fighting over that block to work out in,” she said.
“It never dropped, it never faltered, it was amazing.”
Carey’s mother was unable to attend in person due to chemotherapy treatment but passed on a personal message of thanks towards the end of the event.
“You could see the tears around the room,” she said.
Carey also thanked gym owner Ed Roberts, who is also personally connected to the cause, for his support.
“We came to him with this small idea and it was so supportive from him.”
“Every single person that rocked up gave everything and that’s why it was so successful,” Carey said.
Multiple sponsors have already asked whether the event will return and Carey said the momentum meant organisers would likely feel obliged to continue it every year.
Rokeby cafe Grizzly Grounds is also donating $1 from every coffee sold for the rest of July to the cause.
