Mitch Darnton was a pillar of the Charleston fitness community and a sought after strength-and-conditioning coach through his online brand TQN Training that reached people across the country.

It was easy to see why Mitch had such a following. He embodied his brand's logo of "Do The Work" and was not one to shy away from a challenge. Mitch was kind and believed that everybody could work on themselves to become better. This mindset was what allowed him to continuously inspire and lead people of all ages and fitness levels around him. Mitch worked with high school athletes to middle aged moms, always pushing everyone to be their best and try their hardest in and out of the gym.

Mitch became known for his Mitch Slap Fridays that he would lead Friday mornings at Pro Performance Athletics in Charleston. These workouts consisted of deadlifts, goblet squats, bulgarian split squat dropsets, soul crushing cardio intervals, and devils presses. These workouts were so challenging they coined the phrases "Never not hard" and "But did you die?" which became taglines for TQN.

Always quick to use TQN's popularity to help out anyone in need, Mitch was one of the biggest supporters of so many causes that impacted the Charleston community. Even if that meant rowing 7,000 meters every 4 hours for 48 hours for his buddy or donating all MitchSlapFriday proceeds to a friend in a serious car accident.. Mitch showed up again and again for friends and friends of friends in need, without hesitation.

On April 14th, 2022, after a string of sudden and unexpected heart surgeries leaving him with a pacemaker, Mitch Darnton passed away.

The hole that Mitch left in the hearts of his friends and family was enormous. There was a space in the Charleston community that would never be able to be filled by anyone else.

It was in that space that Mitch-a-Palooza was formed. An annual event where 100% of the proceeds would be donated to a different recipient each year. A way to keep Mitch's legacy alive and a way to keep helping the community that he loved so incredibly much.

It was only fitting that Mitch-a-Palooza be centered around a community workout that would be challenging, but accessible for all fitness levels. So "The Mitch" was created- a workout that mirrored one of Mitch's favorite annual workouts "The Murph". It only made sense to host it at the same field where Mitch completed his final Murph.

And so the first annual Mitch-a-Palooza was created and the recipient was Stall High School and a new gym for their athletes..

And then the second annual Mitch-a-Palooza was hosted and the recipient was Brittani Proffitt for her battle against cancer (RIP)..

And then the third annual Mitch-a-Palooza was hosted and 192 participants showed up and proceeds were donated to MAD Park to educate children about nutrition, health and wellness..

And now.. it's 2025 and time for the 4th Annual Mitch-a-Palooza.

Another opportunity to bring the community together and honor Mitch and his legacy by sweating together through a soul crushing workout and donating the proceeds.

This year we have added a new event to the end the fun. A four person team event with a very, very big Mitch spin to add his flair of fun with the same level of "hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard" ethic.

"The Relay" debuts this year in 2025. Get your team of four together and come up with your team name. There will be limited team slots available for this event.

#doitformitch