30 seconds work, 90 seconds rest.

You start off with a distance in mind on a rower, and each 30 seconds you try and go a meter further. At first it seems easy, manageable – but you know what’s coming.

Time doesn’t lie.

Into round 15 you realize how quickly 90 seconds passes you by. When at one stage you could track the time suddenly it seems to be slipping past you – faster as each round passes.

How many rounds of 90 seconds make up a life?

When you’re alive and truly conscious, you realize just how fast time is either moving past us, or us with it.

3 Years ago I opened a gym with virtually no equipment. At first it seemed so simple. I didn’t have any thoughts as to how long the ride would last, or where it would take me – I just worked hard each day, and tried to improve upon the previous one. Just one meter further, each round.

But you get caught up in the days. More equipment, more gyms, the message spreads, and the 90 seconds begin to fly past quicker than you ever imagined.

Time doesn’t lie.

One thing I do know as I write this is that we, as a gym, have continued adding a meter to each round. We have progressed each day more than I could ever have hoped, and we continue to do so without stopping to admire the view – we drive on.

So before the rounds start to fly past again, I want to breathe for a minute, and thank Anthony, Peter, Steve, Nic H, Nic R, Justin, Angelo and Reinhard for rowing along side me, pulling hard when I couldn’t, and for being the most genuinely supportive group of men I have ever encountered.

To the men and women who have trained with us in the past, and those who continue to do so, thank you for showing me what can be achieved through the collective. In a time when fads are plentiful, you have proven that there is still no substitute for hard work.

I think of Roark as a joyous place. It humbles people, but ultimately provides them with hope. I couldn’t ask for any more than that after 3 years. So we’ll celebrate this benchmark briefly, and then continue to plough on toward that floating ceiling, the moving target – the round in which we fully realize our potential.

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