Letter to my CrossFit 858 family:
Main Action:
I’m regretfully informing you that we have made the very, very difficult decision to shut our doors to physical operations. We will be moving to an online, at home format for the next two weeks, and then hopefully resuming normal operations the first week of April.
This is a very frightening and uncertain time on many levels. First and most importantly, we hope the actions we and other businesses are demonstrating will help society navigate this crisis. Reducing exposure reduces infection which saves medical resources for those who really need it.
My personal thoughts:
I’ve always been transparent and spoken from the heart and I’ll do that here. Lauren, Diana and I have been working virtually around the clock for weeks now monitoring the situation on a global, national, and local level. I am so proud of these ladies for the work they have put in to help make very important decisions, along with preparing a viable and value filled alternative to physical workouts (more on that later).
“I’m scared to stay open, I’m scared to close.” That’s a quote I saw another affiliate owner in the world write and that resounded with me. That’s exactly it. I’m scared of the uncertainty. As we watched the COVID19 virus spread, our position to stay open was in the majority. We were not yet “at risk”. This all changed once it hit stateside, the majority is now becoming the minority as time goes on. The last thing I want to do is become a part of the problem.
The decision to close is the hardest one we have ever had to make. But I have decided to close for the overall good. The risk isn’t so much the infection of ourselves. Most of us are healthy able bodied individuals that can withstand a direct infection over 3-5 days. It’s why we come to CrossFit 858 in the first place.
The risk is walking around as asymptomatic carriers during incubation. I decided to close for our members’ family members. I decided to close for my elderly parents. I decided to close for my young son Axton where there is little to no data. I decided to close for my wife and our unborn daughter, where there is NO data on fetuses in utero. Yes, in the age of social media, this may be the strangest pregnancy announcement (She’s 12 weeks:) ). We ALL have risk. My reasons are truly not any more important than the reasons for you to not get infected. We are all in this together, truly.
This is also a very troubling time for us as a small business and all those who rely on this business as a livelihood. We ask that you, the members, stick with us through this. If too many members go on hold it could quickly have irreversible financial damage. Quite simply, in that scenario, there may not be a gym to come back to. As a small business we do financially plan for emergencies, but not physical shut downs of this magnitude. This is just far beyond the scope of our emergency budgeting. We are at your mercy to help ensure there will be a gym to come back to.
What’s next
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At 8pm tonight, March 16th, both locations will be shut down. Our target reopening date will be Wednesday April 1st.
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Wednesday March 18th, we will have two one hour windows at each location: 8-9am and 5-6pm where members can come in and check out equipment for home workouts–free of charge. These items are for you to use during the shut down.
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Beginning Thursday March 19th, we will hold virtual classes 3 times a day. Morning, noon and afternoon. These classes will be instructor led where we will be able to see you and coach you.
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We will also publish workouts for you to do at home via sugarwod.
I do and always have believed in this community. Now is the time where we need to all come together to prevail through this crisis. However, we need your help and continued support for that to happen.
Thank you for your time. Please be on the lookout for more communication with specifics regarding the virtual transition.
And please, take care of yourselves.
Mark Lin
CrossFit 858
Owner and Coach