Pursuit OCR is now OPEN, so come by and check out the obstacle course at 444 Dufferin Street, just north of Queen St. West! Our cryosauna is also up and running!

To see our TV debut on Breakfast Television:  http://bit.ly/pursuitonbt

For our fall class schedule:  http://bit.ly/pursuitfallclasses

Obstacle course race leaders Tough Mudder and Spartan Race only started five years ago, and now OCR is one of the fastest growing individual sports. The courses challenge an athlete's stamina, courage and fitness level, but the reward is always the same - a sense of accomplishment and the fun of challenging yourself with something outside of the box.

The team at Pursuit OCR is comprised of health advocates who firmly believe that your workout shouldn’t add to your work week. With years of combined experience in the fitness and health industry, we’ve grown tired of the bright lights, loud music and mirrors everywhere, so we’re creating a fitness centre with all the things we love. We found a spot right in our West Queen West neighborhood that has the room we need to make something awesome. In fact, 10,000 square feet of awesome at 444 Dufferin Street, just north of Queen St. West.

We are building an obstacle course wide enough to race a friend almost two football fields long that twists and winds over and under itself again and again. Test your speed and strength, and have fun climbing and crawling. Don’t worry if you bail on the rings, you’ll land right in our giant ball pit. When was the last time you were allowed to play in a ball pit?!

We have found amazing teachers who want to bring new classes and movement to the community. A full course of dynamic flexibility, strength training, cardio and mobility classes are on the schedule.

Have kids? We’ve designed programming for children and guardians to work out in the same space without diluting the training for adults or forcing you to find a drop-in daycare. We'll be allocating times so that the course can become a big indoor playground for families, which will be awesome in the winter when the parks are buried in snow. 

We've taken our love of fun and creativity and created something you’ll want to enjoy with other fun, creative people. Building a community is the goal - bringing in people who represent the fabric of the area, as well as welcoming new people who are eager to play.

We’ve set out to offer something unique, something new and something that will put a smile on your face and sweat on your brow, but we need your help. Becoming a part of our campaign will allow us to accelerate our timeline and get you the best equipment and the best teachers now. With your contribution, we'll be able to build an even better course and offer as many classes and programs right from the start. And that's not all!

AMENITIES AND SERVICES:

• Cryotherapy - Chill your body to -150 degrees Celsius to mend muscle, recover faster and rejuvenate your skin. A better alternative to the traditional ice bath, this will be the first cryosauna in downtown Toronto.

• Private personal training studio - Privately learn from the best how to reach your goals safely and faster.
• 2 fully matted group exercise spaces - Learn dynamic flexibility, strength training and increase your lactic threshold to take your endurance to the next level.
• Gender-neutral washrooms and changerooms because binary sucks.
• 45-foot observation gallery to relax in and watch your friends on the obstacle course.
• Beverages and snacks - Get your second wind with a coffee, kombucha, coconut water or cold-pressed juice, grab some vegan snacks or hormone-free grass-fed brisket jerky, and then get back on the course.

• $20: All-day play pass - access to obstacle course, cardio area and independent training area. One pass is good for all day with unlimited come-and-go access.
• $20:  Group exercise single pass - good for any single group exercise pass (excludes workshops)
• $30:  Play/class pass - good for any single class, plus an all-day pass
  
• $35:  Whole body cryotherapy session 
• $150:  10-pack of passes - ten transferable day passes to use for yourself or share with friends
• $225:  Monthly all-inclusive pass - non-transferable all-access use for obstacle course, independent training and classes (excluding workshops)
  

Workshop pricing will vary according to subject, teacher and duration.

Wil McLean, Owner

With over 16 years in the fitness industry, I’ve been trying to find new and interesting ways to educate and challenge people to have fun while getting fit. As a massage therapist, trainer and educator, I’m constantly looking for ways to make a healthy lifestyle a natural and sustainable thing, not something to be dragged into. Focusing on body positivity over beach body bootcamps and supporting the LGBTQ community, educating people how their body functions so they can pick and choose their goals to suit their needs is key. Feeling good about yourself should never mean sacrificing the things you love, and a healthy body doesn’t take one form. I’m thankful for the forum I’ve been granted to meet amazing people. I can’t wait to bring my enthusiasm and ideas to a wider audience.

Eddie Chan, Owner 

Eddie Chan is a community-minded person who loves to have fun and be active. Always exploring different ways of bringing people together, his recent ventures at The Mascot Cafe and Bolt Fresh Bar have been successful communal hubs. He hopes to continue this with his current endeavour, Pursuit OCR. This training facility will be a place where everybody can have fun and feel alive, while getting fit at the same time. Always eager to learn and contribute, he feels very blessed and is super stoked to be working with such amazing people on this project. Eddie has a degree in being silly and is also studying impromptu dance. He strives to inspire and to be inspired. Eddie is proud to call Toronto, Ontario, his home.

Mikey Pamaputera, Program Director

Learn, train, play. Having been in the health/fitness field for the past six years, it has always been important for me to live by this code. A POSE Method Running Technique Specialist by trade, I teach the importance of movement skills so my students can run injury-free, faster and farther while having more fun. I have traveled to seek out different teachers who have mastered their trade, from running, dancing, climbing, parkour, and gymnastics. They all have one thing in common, which is they are and will always be a student. My goal at Pursuit OCR is to provide a variety of programs/classes for people to learn and develop new skills so they can have a better understanding of their bodies’ capabilities and hope to perform at optimal levels. I also hope to provide a platform for teachers to showcase their unique skills, where they can encourage others to step outside of the box a little and learn, train, play.

Raphael Charles

Certified personal trainer Raphael Charles has 10 years of experience, coaching in Olympic and powerlifting and specializing in strength and conditioning, as well as weight loss, building muscle, and optimizing body mechanics. He came into personal training through an appreciation for the human body and its ability/potential to improve, learning that even the most physically inept person could acquire strength, flexibility, etc. with the proper guidance. Raphael has also spent several years gaining experience in areas such as parkour, gymnastics and rock climbing. “With functionality follow the aesthetics; look good, feel good, be better in every aspect of your health. Acquire the knowledge and tools to be accountable for your own well-being!"

Joanne Lynn Galligan

Joanne is a Toronto-based aerial circus coach and personal trainer. Always active and looking for a challenge, she came upon the Toronto School of Circus Arts in 2005. Here her passion for movement and training peaked. For three years she trained in trapeze, silks and acrobatics before starting as a trapeze instructor in 2010. Joanne has travelled across Canada, teaching and training athletes, actors and dancers. She currently coaches aerial circus at the Toronto School of Circus Arts and at Hercinia Arts Collective. This past year her desire to learn and to help others reach their full potential brought her to Canfitpro, where she become a certified personal trainer.

Patricia Gora

Patricia developed Pursuit OCR’s PLAY YOUR BEST series from her belief in providing children with alternative approaches to learning and giving them an opportunity to take control of their own health and wellness. In 2013, she fused yoga with art and founded YOGART STUDIO, a program that raises children’s levels of mind-body awareness and social responsibility and strives to promote an inspiring and inclusive outlook that grows from each child’s individual perspective of environment, body, and self. Patricia has extensive experience teaching at the Art Gallery of Ontario, is an instructor and associate researcher at Ryerson University and recently joined the team at Myseum of Toronto.

Cecily Milne

For over 10 years, yoga was Cecily’s sole form of physical activity. During that time she completed the 500-hour Downward Dog Teacher Training program, studied with teachers all over the world, opened her own studio space in Muskoka (Lake of Bays Yoga) and had the privilege to work with a vast array of clientele ranging from Survivorman Les Stroud to the Toronto FC. Seeking out alternative means of strength and mobility, Cecily found her way into seminars with the Ido Portal team, Shawn Mozen and Sara-Claire Lajeunesse of Agatsu Inc., and Christopher Sommer. As the co-founder of Yoga Detour, she is now teaching others how they too can become movement instructors through Toronto's first multi-disciplinary Yoga Teacher Training program. www.theyogaelement.com

Mugabi Mpagi

Mugabi has been an active participant in the fitness industry since 2008 and is well-versed in exercise prescription to cultivate a healthy being. He has taught individuals and groups his movement philosophy, which combines aspects of minimalist/bodyweight conditioning, yoga, and traditional strength and conditioning. As a certified athletic therapist and movement coach, Mugabi has had the opportunity to work with various levels of athletes in football, basketball, hockey, dance, and martial arts, in order to prevent injuries and create more resilient and explorative movers.

Katie Perconti

Katie started training aerial arts in 2008 simply to appease a friend. Thinking there was no way she could do it, she was proven wrong and got addicted after just one class. Katie's style of coaching is very similar to her style of learning - technical, methodical and broken down step by step when necessary. Learning aerials has taught her that anything is possible, so long as you have the will, determination, and time to dedicate. Katie loves to share her knowledge with others and watch them reach great heights. 

Mary-Margaret Scrimger 

With almost 8 years of circus training and performing, Mary-Margaret Scrimger is excited to be part of the Pursuit OCR team. Mary-Margaret is known for her strength and is looking forward to making others strong in novice muscle conditioning. And if you want to expand your muscle range, try her stretch class.

Leslye-Aikayla So

Christopher Taylor

Since the age of 14, I have been training my body through various physical disciplines. I was a provincial level champion at gymnastics, and I have studied ballet, jazz and modern dance. I have performed around the world as an aerial circus artist, as well as a ground acrobat, a hand-to-hand flyer, a juggler and a stunt man. I have been coaching all levels of gymnastics since 1987 and have worked as an acrobatic coach on Cirque Du Soleil’s Bananspheel show during its Toronto run. I am currently one of the competitive team coaches for University of Toronto Gymnastics, and I teach handstands out of my Toronto School Inverted Equilibrium.