In May 2024, the JERKs fitness team from Woolacombe sent a small team to compete in the London Olympia Hyrox event, which comprises eight single 1k runs broken up with eight individual exercise stations in between.
The format stays the same across the globe, where over 175,000 athletes compete under the same race conditions to ultimately claim a limited qualification place at the World Championships, and this culminates in the top placed athletes qualifying for the Hyrox World Championship, which this year was held in Nice, France.
We were over the moon to say that our local girl Gemma Rous from Ilfracombe was successful in getting a World Championship qualifying time and was invited to compete as part of the England team in Nice.
A few of the team travelled to Nice to support Gemma and watch her go head-to-head with some of the fittest athletes on the planet. She completed the race in 1hr 15 minutes and 5 seconds, placing her 30th in the world age rankings.
Gemma is a full-time working Mum with two daughters at Woolacombe school, she is a children’s physio at GRIPP Independent Paediatric Physiotherapy and a Charity Founder and Director for the Penguin Sports Foundation, which supports sport and rehab for children with disabilities, and of course, she is an avid fitness addict!
Gemma joined the JERKs around 18 months ago and is well known for completing Woolacombe Dunes Parkrun, pushing a buggy with her daughter in around the course, even up the Dune of Doom.
Many of you may be aware of a small fitness revolution, which is growing in the village and expanding at a rapid rate, this now engages around 100 locals from Woolacombe, Ilfracombe, Braunton and, in some cases, further afield.
JERK Training evolved during Covid and started with two people in a back garden with two sandbags, a couple of rusty dumbbells and two old containers filled with sand, the principles were simple, gyms were closed and they needed to adapt.
Based on previous years of fitness training, they designed a functional fitness approach to the regime, or ‘Hybrid Training’ as it is now called. ‘Hybrid Fitness’ is about being inclusive in all of the basic disciplines of fitness, this includes basic levels of cardio and strength training, carrying your shopping from the car or even carrying the kids back from the beach!
Historically, you would either be someone who went to the gym and pushed weights or someone who ran Marathons. Times have changed and now many people are seeing the huge benefits in incorporating all of these disciplines successfully to create a more balanced approach to health, wellbeing and real life.
When JERK training expanded in late 2022, they realised there was something much more important to be recognised, and that was mental wellness alongside physical wellness. The JERK family evolved as a simple idea not a well calculated business plan, it was based on a community of positive likeminded people who celebrate their ordinary lives but want to improve themselves and watch others improve.
The JERK goal was to engage as many locals as possible and bring back some community spirit, self-esteem and encourage mental and physical wellness at a time when the Pandemic had hit so many people so hard.
Encouraging better lifestyles through engaging with the natural environment to improve mental and physical wellness in the area is so important and when you actually take the time to stop and take in our surroundings you realise this.
So, what’s next for the JERKs? Well, they’ve started the plan again and looking for more Hyrox qualifying spots for the 24/25 season, starting in September 2024. Before this, they will be taking 22 locals to Bristol to compete in the Superhuman Games on June 29.
JERKs are signing up for the North Devon Hospice Mission Unbreakable and, of course, continuing weekly participation in the Woolacombe Dunes Parkrun.
JERK Training is now running sessions six days a week to cater for everybody, at every level. The JERK family ranges from ages 16 to 62 years of age and has a range of options for beginners right up to seasoned athletes.
They are currently exploring options for younger children to get active and involved, based on feedback from some of our local parents, so stay tuned.
Their drive will always be firmly rooted in the principles of community engagement and participation in the belief that you should celebrate your own ordinary every day because it is extraordinary in so many ways. And that you really can be the very best version of yourself, no matter what your age or ability.
They do not have a gym, they do not have walls or Wifi, no mirrors, no judgement, they train outdoors in all weathers 365 (and yes, some of them do train on Christmas Day). JERKs just train in the amazing outdoor gym and celebrate the ordinary every day.
The JERKs would like to say thank-you to Woolacombe Dunes Parkrun the National Trust and Mortehoe Parish Council for their ongoing support and for everyone else who supports them in any way.