A Kingston gym is gearing up for a 24-hour workout marathon today to raise money for locals doing it tough.
CrossFit Colossus will run one workouts every hour from 11am on Friday to 11am on Saturday, with dozens of members sharing the load in teams around the clock.
It is the third year the gym has staged the event, but the first time it is raising funds for Kingborough Community Missions.
The money will go directly to a volunteer team based in Margate that buys ingredients and prepares ready-made meals for people in need across the Kingborough and broader Hobart area.
The organisation distributed more than 14,000 frozen ready-made meals last year and is aiming to hand out 18,000 in 2026 as demand continues to grow.
Lauren Hempenstall, from CrossFit Colossus, said the cause hit close to home.
“I think everyone can appreciate that cost of living is going up and there’s a lot of people in the community doing it tough and it’s just great that we can get behind something so local,” she said.
“You don’t know what other people are going through … it could be your neighbour that receives a meal.”
Hempenstall said around 40 to 50 people would stay for the full 24 hours, with many more expected to drop in throughout the event.
Last year more than 130 members turned out for the Friday evening alone.
“Some crazy people like to just get up and, ‘I’m just gonna come and do the 12am workout’,” she said.
“I’ll be here for the full 24 hours.”
The Friday night program includes a food truck, fire pots, a DJ and a kids workout, while Saturday morning features yoga and a coffee van alongside the hourly sessions.
She said members of the public are welcome to come along.
“People just bring their camp chairs out and just hang out and have some food,” Hempenstall said.
In previous years the gym raised money for the Black Dog Institute but wanted to support something more local this time around.
The fundraiser has already pulled in more than its $7,000 goal, with donations open at the gym’s GoFundraise page.
