Doing 24 gruelling workouts in 24 hours isn’t an ideal way to spend a weekend for most people, but that’s what members of Army Logistic Training Centre (ALTC) did when they banded together through blood, sweat and tears for their Defence brothers and sisters in need.
The nation-wide fundraiser in late April, represented by members of ALTC at CrossFit TMA Wodonga, assisted in raising more than $300,000 for Wounded Heroes.
During the 24 Hours of Heroes challenge teams of six completed one ‘hero workout’ every hour for 24 hours. Each workout was named after a fallen Defence member.
CrossFit TMA owner Zak Rogers said the partnership between Defence and Wounded Heroes was a perfect fit.
“A lot of gyms around Australia have veterans and serving men and women at their gyms, so it makes perfect sense for them to be the bread and butter in terms of how we raise this money,” Mr Rogers said.
“We had 72 participants, and of those, 25 to 30 serving personnel.
“Three teams were almost solely made up of serving members; then on top of that they had mates and other colleagues that came in and did the workout as well.
A couple of the teams had people who got injured during it so people were coming in at three and four in the morning, no questions asked, and went hard, too.”
One of those members was Army Physical Training Instructor Corporal Sheree Willcox an elite Cross-Fit athlete.
Corporal Willcox said at 15 minutes to the hour, family or friends of the upcoming hero spoke about them, with Mr Rogers going on to read their story .