ROANOKE, Va. – Hundreds of people came together Saturday morning to honor the memory of 4-year-old Rowan Price, who recently died after battling cancer.
A total of 12 gyms in the Roanoke Valley teamed up for the Hero WOD Rowan workout.
Every movement and every rep was specially dedicated to Rowan.
"It's teams of four and the reason I picked teams of four is because Rowan was 4 years old," said Regina Lograsso, owner and head coach of Unwritten.
Participants completed 11 rounds, one for each month Rowan fought a rare, aggressive form of cancer. They also did 44 movements, one for each child diagnosed with cancer every day, on average.
"Each team member is going to row 1,145 meters. That number is significant because that is the time that Rowan left us," Lograsso said.
It was a tough workout, but not nearly as tough as the pain the Price family is dealing with.
"When it gets tough and you want to quit and you just have to give more reps, just give it your all. She would've wanted that," Lograsso said. "Let's just have a fun day for her and remember her in a great way."
Some participants knew Rowan.
"Even when you were tired, you just thought about her and it pushed through, so it was awesome," participant Kayla Nelson said.
Others involved only knew her story.
"As a parent, it just touches your heart when a child is suffering like that and this is the least we could do to help out the family," participant Jennifer Hall said.
All proceeds from the workout went straight to the Price family.
"It's just a testament on how many families and people in the area just kind of fell in love with Rowan and fell in love with their family and want to do all that they can to support their family," Lograsso said.
Participants lifted, jumped and pulled through pain to fight in honor of the little girl who fought harder than anyone.
"I know she has so many people excited to be here for her, so we love her," Nelson said.
A celebration of life will be held for Rowan next weekend at Haley Toyota Field. Click here for more information about that and how to support the family.