Time Flies—25 Years of IMPACT at Fitness Quest 10

It was January 1st and the year was 2000. I remember it like yesterday. How could I forget? It was the first day at my new business venture called “Fitness Quest 10.”

To think back and reflect brings back such fond memories.
We had just named it officially Fitness Quest 10 a few weeks prior, as Melanie (my then girlfriend and now wife) sat around a table in a Mission Hills house we rented and came up with what must have been 100-names with great friends (and still FQ10 clients) Joe and Cindy Pangelinan.

Actually, it was October 1999 that I actually found the location in Scripps Ranch and looked in the windows up on the 2nd floor of 10006 Scripps Ranch Blvd and saw “it.” You know, the vision.

By November 1999, the documents were signed and it was official.
By late December 1999, I got the keys and there was refurbished equipment being delivered, brown carpet being laid down, and massage rooms being painted the “Blue Room” and the “Green Room.” Man, I remember doing that on New Year’s Eve going into Jan 1, 2000.
WOW.

I still remember…A Cybex leg press, a BodyMasters Cable Cross over machine, lat pulldown, and old-school Pec-Dec. A Smith machine. A bench press. Dumbbells. And NO mirrors…yet.

We weren’t the fanciest, but man did we care. When I say “we”, I’m talking about me, Melanie, Lucy Garcia (a Pilates instructor) and Frank Knowles (a massage therapist). And a golden-retriever mascot named “Sid” that came to work with me every day. That was the team. That was “we.” That’s all we had.

And just like that, “we” were opened.

I must admit, I didn’t know much about what I was doing. There was no other training studio to “model” after in Year 2000. “We” were pioneers.

Truth be told, 3-months into this endeavor, I was in great shape. I was 29-years old, working out practically all-day thinking how great it was that I built myself a gym. But then I realized that my 3-months of free rent was no longer, and that I had credit cards to pay off, and things got reals, real quick. Haha.

I remember one guy, somewhat of a local legend back then saying to me, “Now wait a second. You are going to tell me that you are not going to have a membership. And that you are only going to get paid for people to come in and do 1:1 training, massage therapy, or Pilates with you? That will never work.”

Well, thank you to this gentleman’s words. That’s all that I needed was someone to tell me that it would NOT work to make it work. Kind of like my first “hater” before there were haters. Fortunately, it worked. And work it did.

I don’t need to go through all the successes. But it sure is fun to look back.

Donna Dickinson was first-up coming through the doors. Then the Merrigan’s, Wenhardt’s, Pease’s, Nordyke’s, Barajas’, Duke’s, Annette Sorenson, Claudia Cohen, Aaron Eskanazi, Gerald Magruder, Maria Meeuwisse, the Pangelinan’s, the Muecke family, Sharon & Bob Hill, Staff and Sandra Walker …and the list goes on and on. These were some of my very first clients 25-years ago. Heck, some of them are still with us. And I will NEVER forget them. They believed in ME before I think I believed in IT. Seriously. Thank you.

And then came the next wave. LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Chase Daniel, Darren Sproles, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Gerald McCoy, Justin Peelle, Chris Young, Tony Gwynn Jr., Stephen Strasburg, Mike Chandler, and the list goes on and on to today’s guys like Jordan Love, Brett Rypien, and a host of other great athletes.

Then came MVP’s. Super Bowl champions. Super Bowl MVP’s. World-series rings. World series MVP’s. World championships.
Heck, there have been national championships won.
There have been state championships won.

Then there were the documentaries, news features, magazine articles, events, conferences worldwide, books written, and even a TV-show on prime-time network TV (NBC STRONG).
But you know what mattered the most? It was that everyone has always mattered. Every ONE. To this day, I do believe it remains the same. The same core principles and values that allowed Fitness Quest 10 to go from “pioneers” to “legendary-status” was not just the pro-athletes but it was the everyday people that showed-up 365-days a year for years and somehow mixed in with the athletes who were/are playing at world-class levels.

The classes. The Boot-Camps. The 1:1 sessions. The massage and bodywork sessions. The Pilates sessions. Yoga classes and therapy. And it goes on and on…
It was the Moms & Dads trying to survive and raise their kids the right way…and get healthy.
It was the kids trying to live a dream and do something special in high-school. Or college. Or maybe even the pros.
It was the grandmas and grandmas coming in for a new lease on life.
Or it was those people overcoming injury or surgery and needed some “physical therapy.”

Maybe it’s the culture. Maybe it’s the mindset. Maybe it’s the team. Maybe it’s the clients and members that make us who we are every day.

Or maybe it’s ALL of it.

But I can tell you 10-words that define WHO we are STILL to this day.
Passion. Purpose. Mindset. Committed. Dedicated. Caring. Best-in-class. Servant-mentality. Grit. And IMPACT.
Fitness Quest 10. The best gym in the world. I don’t think there will ever or can be another one exactly like it. It’s hard to replicate 25-years of success and significance like that. I also think that’s what makes it special.

I must say, there have been challenging times, losses, and tough times along the way. And I’m not talking necessarily about team turnover, thousands of hours on the road or missed planes or canceled flights from me and even the staff. Those are mere blips in the big picture.

I’m talking clients and members passing away. Family members of client’s and members passings. There have been 2 sets of fires (2003 & 2007) that greatly impacted Scripps Ranch (over 500-homes burned to the ground in the greater Scripps Ranch alone).
A major recession (2009).
Oh, and a pandemic to boot (2020-2022).

Now, once again, we are in a great place. While I’m still a business partner in Fitness Quest 10, I turned the reins over to Jeff Bristol in 2021 to run the “mothership.” And I love what Jeff and the team are doing. As a matter of fact, there are several people still with us for over 15-years; Ryan Rogers, Janet Bertrand, Jeff King, Pat Jak, Linn Holland, Meg Kruse, Craig Valency, Brett Klika, and Julie Wilcox. 9-people still with us from the “old days”–that is unheard of these days. Thank you team. ALL of you.

Jeff is an amazing business partner, leader, visionary, community-builder, and Fitness Quest 10 advocate. I wanted Fitness Quest 10’s legacy to live on for another 25-years and it needed a new level of leadership for the future (My True Strength book shares that entire story). Jeff is a great leader and I love seeing what he is doing now to not only protect the legacy
of FQ10, but to continue to build on it.

My friends, all of you, thank YOU. My wife and I are proud founders of Fitness Quest 10. I am extremely proud to continue to sit in a mentorship role and still be very much a part of the magic that happens daily. I still love to train there and have “Todd Durkin Enterprises” HQ out of the mothership. I’m also equally proud and excited that the sanctuary remains sacred and that we do continue to serve as a Lighthouse in our community.
And that to me is IMPACT.

Looking back, I’ve always said, “There will ever only be ONE Fitness Quest 10.” And while we have “FQ10 North” now in Scripps Ranch also, I link it back to the foundation and the clients and members who helped make this all happen. Without them, NONE of it would be possible today.

I’ll end with this…one of my dear friends and clients at Fitness Quest 10 for over a decade, Pastor David Jeremiah, says, “You must always make your dreams bigger than your memories. But you must remember your memories and allow them to fuel your dreams. It is also why we must look in the front-windshield 10x more than we look back in the rearview mirror.”

Well said Dr Jeremiah.

Thank you for allowing me to look back for a few minutes on the journey of Fitness Quest 10 on what has been. It has been one heckuva journey and I’m so grateful for it. Let’s all remember it and be grateful for it. But let’s spend even more time looking forward and all that is going to BE. We’re just getting started!

Much love and cheers to 25-years of IMPACT!

Todd

Todd Durkin is the founder and co-owner of Fitness Quest 10, a world-class gym in San Diego, CA, that has changed lives for over 25-years. He’s a 2-Time Personal Trainer of the Year, recipient of the Jack LaLanne Award for Lifetime Achievement, International Presenter of the Year, and someone who motivates and inspires people daily through his keynote speeches, books, and podcast.

Todd has authored 5-books with a 6th book due out in March 2025. His podcast, the Todd Durkin IMPACT SHOW has reached over 1.5 million people and is rapidly growing. His latest mission is to “Spread Light” around the country through his new fitness & coaching franchise called, IMPACT-X Performance. There are currently 7-locations around the U.S., with rapid growth plans for 2025.

Lastly, Todd is popular on social media and delivers daily messages on his Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Tik-Tok. He’s been married to his wife Melanie for 23-years and they have 3-kids (Luke 22, Brady 19, and McKenna 16).