Fitness fanatics defy sleep to raise £21,000 for Hartlepool charity The PFC Trust.

A group of 36 fitness enthusiasts from Hartlepool has smashed its fundraising target after enduring a gruelling, sleepless 24-hour fitness challenge to raise just under £21,000 for a local charity.

Team photo from the the 24-hour fitness challenge at Evolve, Hartlepool, to raise money for The PFC Trust. Pictures: 22 Production Co.

The event, the brainchild of Matty Richardson, co-owner of Evolve gym and Brewbox on Burn Road, saw 18 pairings tackle a non-stop, around-the-clock Hyrox simulation, demonstrating an incredible level of endurance and mental grit.

The challenge was split 50/50, with half the proceeds going to The PFC Trust, a Hartlepool charity dedicated to improving lives in the community, and the other half reinvested into the Evolve community to strengthen its academy offering under the September UchangeLives campaign.

The Hyrox simulation, a globally recognised fitness trend, required each of the 18 pairs to complete a full race simulation every two hours for a total of 12 back-to-back workouts.

One pair’s Hyrox simulation required a 1000m run before every station, with each station demanding a 1000m ski, 50m sled push, 50m sled pull, 80m burpee broad jumps, 1000m row, 200m farmer’s carry, 100m sandbag lunge and a finish with 100 wall balls.

The teams ran 8km in total per simulation, and with each tending to take 90 minutes, they had a small half-hour break before starting again.

Matty Richardson in action during the 24-hour fitness challenge at Evolve, Hartlepool, to raise money for The PFC Trust. Pictures: 22 Production Co.

This minimal rest was a challenge in itself, as the adrenaline began to drain out and participants couldn’t eat or sleep during that rest period, making the exercise tough mentally.

“We effectively did 12 of those back to back, which is 96km over the course of 24 hours. You are working as a team. It was brutal and I hated every minute of it!” said Matty.

The challenge started at 8pm on a Thursday and concluded at 8pm the following night.

Matty said: “Mentally it was brutal for everyone. It was the same workout for everybody who did it, men and women.

“The hardest bit for me was the lack of sleep, nutrition, hydration, cramps … the mental side of it was worse than the exercise.

“You were just plodding on doing it but the fact you didn’t sleep for 24 hours was the worst, because you couldn’t eat. When the classes started to filter back in at 6am you had an instant pick me up coming in. ”Kelly Brooks, Operations Manager of The PFC Trust, said: “Matty and the Evolve team have demonstrated incredible determination and community spirit. To raise £21,000 through such a demanding 24-hour challenge is an outstanding achievement. The funds will directly support projects that make a real difference to people’s lives across Hartlepool, and we’re extremely grateful for their commitment and continued support of The PFC Trust.”

Action from the 24-hour fitness challenge at Evolve, Hartlepool, to raise money for The PFC Trust. Pictures: 22 Production Co.

The £21,000 fundraising success was supported by individual JustGiving pages and strong corporate supporters, including headline sponsor NE Security and main sponsors T&O Construction and Pool Respray, alongside a long list of other backers.

Matty said: “On a personal level next year will be my tenth year of fundraising. We did the GNR nine years ago, got the gym involved four years ago, and it has got bigger and bigger.

“This is the first year for The PFC Trust, because I am a huge supporter of what the PFC Trust does. If I do another year, it will take my own fundraising efforts with others to more than £100,000 in that ten-year period.

“I have seen the impact that money we have raised has had on the community and young people in the local area, children’s based charities etc, which has led to us getting involved with The PFC Trust.”

And Matty added: “It doesn’t matter how difficult the challenge is when you go through such an intense fundraising challenge in terms of your own mindset, you have to remember that if you can change one person’s life then you are likely to do it again in a heartbeat - and all the people who took part in this challenge have felt exactly the same. We had to remember what we are doing it for.”