CrossFit communities unite for online workout to help charity and businesses hit hard by Covid-19
- The United In Movement fundraiser has already raised more than US$200,000 during its seven-day workout
CrossFit’s community of heavy hitters and organisers have got together to host an online workout challenge to benefit a number of charities helping businesses affected by Covid-19.
United in Movement, spearheaded by CrossFit Sanctional competition operators and other key players within the sport and fitness industry, features a seven-day online workout which ends on Saturday, April 11 at 8pm ET (people can still register), and is completely volunteer-based.
Some of the supporting partners include a number of the CrossFit Sanctional organisers, P10 Performance, Rebel and NoBull – which made a shoe specifically for the fundraiser. A number of CrossFit Sanctionals have been postponed owing to the coronavirus and the 2020 CrossFit Games, scheduled to take place in August in Madison, Wisconsin, remain a question mark.
CrossFit commentator Rory McKernan hosted parts of the live-stream kick-off from his living room, and said the goal was to raise funds for charity and keep people active during lockdown.
“This pandemic has touched everybody,” said McKernan. “It doesn’t matter where you live, what you believe, the colour of your skin – in our community, we respond to crisis with action.”
Each workout features three levels (Compete, Move hard or Just Move) which allows competitors to pick their level of fitness.
Some of the workouts so far have already been demonstrated by various CrossFit athletes, including four-time defending CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser, Iceland’s Katrin Davidsdottir and Canadian Brent Fikowski, all of whom have performed the workouts in their homes using minimal equipment.
Hong Kong’s Ant Haynes, who will represent China at the 2020 CrossFit Games, and Tammi Robinson, who will represent South Africa, participated in the 24-hour live-stream kick-off. Haynes and Robinson are both CrossFit coaches at Coastal Fitness Performance Training in North Point.
The fundraiser is supporting three main charities – Red Cross, Action Against Hunger and the CrossFit Foundation, which helps struggling CrossFit affiliates throughout the world. The initiative has also been backed by some large fitness apparel companies including Reebok and Nike.
So far the initiative has raised more than US$200,000 with around 13,000 people completing the workouts in 124 different countries.
