Coach Eli does a burpee at the grand opening of Crossfit Ampersand on Oct. 23.
Tara Addeo
Crossfit Ampersand’s Oct. 23 grand opening raised $3,044 for the Family Support Council.
In honor of the event, Coach Eli Romero did 712 burpees in an hour to raise money for the Carson Valley nonprofit.
What made you want to do an hour of burpees?
This was something I wanted to knock off my bucket list. Burpees are pretty gross and doing an hour of it certainly isn’t fun. I thought it’d be a hard but rewarding challenge. Not many people can say they did an hour of burpees.
Why did you want to do it as a fundraiser for FSC?I didn’t just want the attention to be on me. I wanted to give back to the community and get better at serving others than just myself. One of our gym members, Veronica LaChance, works at the FSC. Hearing how COVID impacted their funding and their workplace made me want to help out.
What did it mean to you to do 712 burpees and raise the money for FSC?Doing 712 burpees showed me that I can push harder than I thought, and that I’ve grown more tough than before. I wouldn’t have even entertained the thought of doing one hour of burpees. And it made me more willing to suffer and push, knowing this was meant to help someone else rather than me individually.
Anything else you want to add?
Community will always be there for you if you are there for them. I’m definitely considering a reattempt. Maybe if I can get more people to do it with me next time, I’ll be extra motivated.
Crossfit Amersand is located at 1539 Main St., Suite 2 in Gardnerville.
For more about the Family Support Council, visit family-support.org or call 775-782-8692.
