Vancouver gym’s tortoise

At Raincity Athletics in Vancouver, they teach people to work out hard, building strength and skill, but someone at the gym is taking it slow and at his own pace.

Pong is a 16-year-old Sulcata tortoise adopted by Simon Damborg and his partner, who also own Raincity Athletics.

Since taking him in two years ago, Pong has become a staple at the gym, often seen wearing a diaper to avoid any unwanted messes and wandering around very slowly.

“He likes to go hide behind the weights and stuff like that. Or when they’re in classes going on he’ll just run around here. Now we bring him to the gym as much as we can to get him out,” said Damborg.

At Raincity Athletics, a tortoise named Pong frequently hangs around, although he doesn’t lift weights like the gym’s other members. (Sarah Chew, CityNews Image)

Damborg says Pong loves walking, he’ll walk for hours outside on a leash happily, and the curious crowds he attracts don’t bother him.

While pictures are welcome, he says people should be mindful when petting the tortoise.

“Petting, touching his shell, even touching his legs is okay. We don’t let people touch his head just because it depends how sensitive he’s feeling that day or not. He’ll tuck in. Once in a while, you get people trying to pick him up and stuff – it is a huge no-no. ‘I want to see how heavy he is.’ He’s heavy enough that if you drop him, he’s in trouble,” Damborg explained.

Gym-goers say they were surprised to see the hard-shelled pet at the gym at first, but he soon became a beloved workout buddy.

“Last year, when I was working out, and then I finished my last round, and I just fell down to the ground, and Pong came to me. And then he thought I was a treat,” said Minji Jo, a member at the gym.

“Sometimes when you’re working out, Pong likes to come into your space. I have to be very mindful not to step on him or drop something on him, but that’s pretty normal for us,” added Devin Chen, another Raincity Athletics member.

Even those outside of the gym are drawn to Pong. One university student just stopped right in the middle of his walk to ask about the tortoise.

“I’m used to some wildlife in Australia, but never a tortoise in the middle of Vancouver. That’s kind of cool,” said Luke Ede.

A few doors down, the owners at To Dine For Eatery like Pong so much that they often give him their vegetable scraps.

“That’s not fresh enough to serve to customers, but it’s still edible. So if we throw that away, it’s kind of wasting food… we are all neighbors everywhere. So we would like to share everything if we can,” said Juhee Kim, a server at the restaurant.

Pong has thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok – and his number of fans keeps increasing, even if his speed doesn’t.