Hundreds work out together to show support for Bruce Gordon

It was no walk in the park Saturday morning for over 200 CrossFit athletes, but they all shared the same motivation: to support Bruce Gordon.

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A community flash mob workout filled Avalon Park in Saskatoon. Friends and strangers alike did 11 rounds of 11 burpees, 28 push ups, 62 squats and 82 lunges in groups of four.

The event was held to support Gordon, who started chemotherapy this week as he battles stage-four pancreatic cancer.

“Ever since I received the diagnosis, the community support has been overwhelming, and words can’t describe what it means to us,” Gordon said.

Gordon served 28 years with the Saskatoon Police Service before recently becoming a lawyer.

He is also a former captain of the Saskatoon Blades junior hockey team and has competed in CrossFit, cycling and triathlons.

“Our CrossFit community at our gym, our motto is community above all else. Since we started day one at that gym, which is over five-and-a-half years ago, that’s the motto that’s explained every day,” Gordon’s wife Chris said.

“It’s really about investing in the communities and bringing people together and being inclusive. The Gordon’s have certainly demonstrated that time and time again in the communities that they’ve served, so for me that’s what it means to be like Bruce,” event organizer Reagan Wildeman said.

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Gordon’s CrossFit coach of six years, Jason Cain, was at the event. He said Gordon is an example of “non-stop perseverance.”

“I’ve trained Bruce for the last six years at CrossFit and there has never been an obstacle that he hasn’t been able to overcome one way or another,” Cain said.

“Life is all about community. You might have 1,000 friends on Facebook, but all that’s not real. What’s real is the people that actually show up and show support,” Cain said.