CrossFit Gym Owner Lindsey Marcelli Calls on Gyms to Rally for Breast Cancer Survivors

• Compete for a Cure, a US nonprofit founded by CrossFit gym owner Lindsey Marcelli, is asking gyms to host breast cancer fundraisers this October.
• The money supports a fund that pays for survivors’ gym memberships, nutrition coaching and mental health coaching in their own communities.
• Gyms can start with one benchmark workout, a run or walk, or a post-workout barbecue, and coaches can take a free online course on breast cancer basics.

From a Deployment in Iraq to a Fund That Pays for Survivors to Train

Lindsey Marcelli was deployed in Iraq in 2007 and 2008 when her mother, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the organization’s website, the diagnosis “changed everything” for her. More than a decade later she owns a CrossFit gym, founded the women’s fitness competition Girls Gone Rx, and runs Compete for a Cure as its founder and executive director.

Compete for a Cure is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mailing address in Superior, Wisconsin. On October 9, Morning Chalk Up reported that the group is calling on CrossFit gyms to take part this October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The group’s site lists a 2026 fundraising campaign and a toolkit for gym owners who want to host an event.

What the Money Does

The stated mission is to fund breast cancer survivors’ and thrivers’ wellness within local communities and to provide breast health education for coaches, trainers and athletes. In practice, a survivor can apply to the Compete for a Cure Fund and use the money for health and wellness expenses, such as a gym membership, nutrition coaching or mental health coaching. The group also created a nutrition scholarship with a nutrition partner.

The need is concrete. The organization’s website says more than 38 percent of women worry about finances tied to breast cancer treatment, and only one in three women living with breast cancer meets current physical activity guidelines. It also notes that one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

The board and advisers include Michael Huynh, founder of the competition software company Competition Corner, as a director; Brooke Prodoehl, a registered nurse, as secretary; and Melissa Lovell as treasurer. The medical advisory team includes Ciaran Fairman, PhD, an assistant professor in exercise science at the University of South Carolina, and Dr. Allison Betof Warner of the Stanford Cancer Institute.

How a Gym Can Join This October

Marcelli laid out the model in a 2023 interview with Morning Chalk Up, in the group’s first year as a nonprofit. An affiliate hosts a fundraiser, adds breast cancer themed touches such as pink apparel or a moment to recognize survivors, and uses the Compete for a Cure site to set up a fundraising page and order custom gym shirts. Gyms can also apply to the fund on behalf of a survivor in their own community.

The group’s blog adds a nine-step plan for getting members involved. Owners explain the purpose to members, plan an event such as a charity workout challenge, a class with a donation entry fee or a charity run or walk, and set a fundraising goal with simple incentives such as recognition for top fundraisers, raffle prizes or gym merchandise. Members get fundraising resources, including sample social posts, and can form teams for accountability. Anyone who would rather give time than money can volunteer on the day, and the gym shares results and thanks everyone afterward.

Format is flexible. A gym can program a benchmark workout, which is a set workout that athletes repeat over time to compare scores, or it can host a run or walk, a small competition or an ongoing support group for survivors. Marcelli said her team’s favorite choice is a workout followed by a barbecue: “We love a community event.” The group has used the benchmark idea before. In July 2023 it launched a workout called Unbroken to raise money for people affected by breast cancer, and Morning Chalk Up covered a “Chalktober” campaign for the group that fall.

Coaches have a way in as well. Compete for a Cure runs Boob University, an online course platform, and Marcelli encouraged coaches to take the free Breast Cancer Basics course and to connect with local breast health or oncology centers. A coach who finishes it can answer a member’s question about exercise after treatment and knows where to send her for medical advice.

Why a CrossFit Gym Is a Natural Home for This

A CrossFit affiliate, which is the sport’s term for a local gym licensed to use the brand, tends to run on small-group classes where coaches know every member by name. That setup suits the fund’s goal. A survivor who returns to training at a place where the coach already understands her situation faces fewer barriers than one who walks into a large commercial gym alone.

Girls Gone Rx shows the same instinct at a larger scale. Event listings place its competitions in cities including Denver and Chattanooga, and the events pair team workouts with fundraising. The organization’s stated vision is a global community where survivors, gym owners and supporters connect through funding, education and shared effort, and its tagline says it can take one person to start a ripple of positivity.

For a gym owner reading this in the second week of October, the entry point is small. Pick a date before the end of the month, choose a workout members already know, set up a page through the Compete for a Cure site and invite the neighborhood. The coaches, the barbecue and the survivors who show up will do the rest, and the money stays in the community that raised it. A first-time host does not need a big crowd. A dozen members, a printed leaderboard, a pink shirt order and a table of snacks make a real fundraiser, and the gym that runs one this year has a template to reuse every October after it.