One man's interest in creating a positive space for the LGBTQ2S+ community and his interest in fitness have crossed in the form of a new exercise group in Guelph.
Telos Athletics is a new fitness program started by Jacob Maxwell, a veterinary student at the University of Guelph. The queer affirming group is meant for anyone, queer or ally, seeking a safe space for connection and exercise.
“Athletics have often been an intimidating space for queer people and I’m really encouraged to see that is starting to break apart with a lot of elite level athletes coming out about their identity and I’m really grateful to be a part of that effort,' he said.
In the spring of 2021, Maxwell recalls developing an interest in getting physically active and started doing track and field events. One day, he posted a video on social media of himself long jumping, Maxwell said a friend causally mentioned to him that he should start a queer affirming track and field group.
“As soon as he said that it hit me like, 'Yes, I need to do this, this would be amazing for the Guelph community, this would be amazing for me,'" he said, "It was an immediate yes and from that point onward it was kind of just planning, hashing out how I wanted to do this and then getting the word out."
The program is held outdoors at different locations across Guelph. Sessions are broken into 10 minute increments of stretching, running, strength training and participating in track or field activity.
"I thought having a track and field focus would make it really approachable at the get go and keep people coming back who have different interests."
If that's not enough activity, Maxwell adds the group will finish off with a trail jog through part of the city, but people can choose what they want to participate in.
"Everyone's only encouraged to do whatever part brings joy and is beneficial for them," he said.
To learn where workouts are taking place, residents can join an email list which Maxwell sends out information about the date and location of upcoming sessions.
Since forming Telos a few months ago, 30 people have signed up with five to 15 participants attending the weekly sessions.
“It’s big enough that it feels like a good group, but it’s small enough that I feel like I can meet everybody and make a connection and also manage in the portions when I am leading the group," he said, mentioning there are a few regulars and help running the program each week.
"I've gotten exclusively positive responses which have been incredibly encouraging for me. I set out to create this space and I wasn't sure how it would go over and it has turned out to be fairly popular."
When asked about the name Telos Athletics, Maxwell explains he first learned about the word telos when reading a book written by Bernard Rowling, an animal behavioural scientist, where it described the 'natural inclination of an animal.'
Doing some more research on the term, Maxwell discovered it originally came from Aristotle, who coined the term to describe the 'full potential of a person or thing.'
“I really liked both of those meanings for my track and field group, because approaching fitness is all about Aristotle’s definition the full potential, the full telos of a person physically, whatever they want it to be, and it being an affirmative space for the queer community is all about Bernard's definition, your natural way of being and just being yourself."
To learn more about Telos Athletics, check out its Instagram page.
