ROANOKE, Va. – Twelve gyms or fitness locations are coming together to honor Roanoke 4-year-old Rowan Price, who died Sept. 15 after a long battle with a rare, aggressive form of leukemia.
"Same day, same workout, same cause!" is how Crossfit Unwritten in Salem put it on Facebook.
"Thousands of people have been following Rowan's story for so long, and we were so sad to hear the news," said Regina Lograsso, owner and head coach at Crossfit Unwritten.
People from the Roanoke and Salem area will come together for a special Hero WOD (workout of the day) in honor of Rowan.
The workout starts at multiple locations at 9 a.m. There's a $5 donation to participate, and all donations will go to the Price family. Participants are asked to wear gold.
"That's what Crossfit is all about. We do some crazy things and get together and do some crazy fitness, but we also come together if there's something that's in the community, said Lograsso. "It doesn't matter what gym you go to. When something like this happens, we kind of all rally together."
The actual workout is unique to Rowan's story and childhood cancer statistics.
It's divided into teams of four, for Rowan's age. Participants will do 4 sets of 11 for 44 minutes, which is the number of kids diagnosed with cancer daily. Participants will also row for 1,145 meters, which represent the time Rowan "gained her angel wings."
"I wanted our hero WOD to represent our local hero, Rowan, who fought a fight that many of us couldn't even dream of fighting," Lograsso said.
This is the most recent list of locations that are participating:
- CrossFit Unwritten
- Roanoke Valley CrossFit
- Big Lick CrossFit
- Ignite Training Facility
- PlayFitStayFit
- CrossFit Unify
- Brickhouse CrossFit
- The Noke
- Tribe Fitness
- Fit Body Boot Camp, Roanoke location
- Fit Body Boot Camp, Daleville location