MARSHALL — Teams of fitness enthusiasts will be gathering downtown Tuesday night, for a new kind of Veterans Day event.

“We’re all showing up as a community and doing a workout,” to raise funds and awareness for veterans’ mental health, said Katie Galbraith, owner of MSHL Fitness in Marshall. More than 70 people, working as individuals or teams, have signed up to do the “CHAD” workout challenge, which is a series of 1,000 box step-ups.

“It actually happens globally,” at CrossFit gyms on Veterans Day, Galbraith said of the event. The CHAD 1000X workout challenge was created in honor of Navy SEAL Chad Wilkinson, who died by suicide in 2018. Wilkinson had experienced blast wave injuries and multiple combat deployments, according to the Step Up Foundation.

Galbraith said the workout challenge in Marshall will start at 5:30 on Third Street downtown. The city of Marshall said part of North Third Street will be closed from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday to accommodate the workout event.

Proceeds from the workout challenge fundraiser will mainly go to the Action Foundation, Galbraith said. She said the Foundation’s mission of helping people with mobility issues get outdoors is also one that supports veterans’ mental and physical health.

“This is pretty fun, to see more people getting together in the community,” Galbraith said of the response to the workout challenge. Doing a physical event was a way to honor the sacrifices that members of the military make as part of their service, she said.

“Physically doing something hard feels like saying, ‘Hey, I see you,'” Galbraith said.