'Crazy challenge' - Fighters to land a million punches for South Tyneside boxing club
A million blows will be struck to raise money for a South Tyneside boxing club which gets involved with the community
A South Tyneside gym is raising money for a nearby boxing club by throwing a million punches in 100 hours.
Starting at 10am on Monday, August 24, 38 Fitness on Ellison Street in Jarrow will see some extremely fit male and female fighters, aged from 14 to mid-40s, pummeling the punchbags up to 50,000 times each.
The grueling challenge is part of a drive to raise £1,500 towards operational costs at Jarrow Boxing, based at Berkley Way.
South Tynesiders have the chance to be a guest to the club for a workout, sauna or class for just £5 which goes to the boxing club. Be warned. Some of the sessions are very demanding.
There’s a Train-With-a-Pro event with Jarrow professional Ewan Mackenzie taking a group through a full pro workout. There are also two-hour Hyrox and spin classes and a 5am run club from South Shields to Seaburn.
Jarrow Boxing is not a charity, but a not-for-profit organisation which works with the community and creates opportunities for young fighters. The club is run by Nathan Bell who has professional boxers Robbie Colman on his roster as well as Ewan Mackenzie.
Co-owner of 38 Fitness Dean Crouch said: “We do a fundraiser every few months for different causes. Over the last four years we’ve raised over £40,000 for different charities.
“Every fundraiser we do has a crazy challenge that takes us 30 to 40 hours to do. In the past we’ve done a climb Everest challenge on one of our step machines.
“This one is a million punches in 100 hours. We reckon it will take 14-15 hours on the bag for each participant. We have a collection of people doing that. The people being sponsored for it will be doing 50,000 punches each. The rest will be the staff.
“That means about two-and-a-half hours a day on the bags over five days.
“We’re opening all week to non-members and all proceeds will go to the boxing club. It’s a great club that does a load for the community. It keeps young people off the streets.”
For more information, contact the club at www.38fitness.co.uk. To donate visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jarrowboxingclub.