The most brutal Challenge so far

Lights on the bike are blinking. Lots of chatter in the dark. Brave souls getting their gear on to attempt the Everesting Challenge. One man was filled with excitement and hope.

It was only 5am and a long day lay ahead, but Muhammad Ihsan Abu Bakar had a plan. 10 to 12 laps each time, until he hits the required 97 laps to achieve 8,828m – the elevation of Mount Everest.

The first 36 laps went by quickly and the 26-year-old entrepreneur kept going on strong until he reached base camp (half the elevation of Mount Everest) on the 49th lap. That’s half the battle achieved, just half more to go – not too difficult, right? Wrong.

By lap 60, Ihsan was ready to call it a day. The fatigue in his legs was massive, weighing down his entire body, as he struggled weakly to pedal up the slope.

As if the God of Thunder wanted to play a trick on them, the skies opened and poured mercilessly on the assailants. Exhaustion prominently displayed across everyone’s faces. A good break was needed, so Ihsan took a long one but he had reached a point where he was ready to call it quits.

For someone so competitive and highly attracted to the sheer difficulty of the Challenge, wanting to throw in the towel was a huge test of his grit. His wife wouldn’t hear of it and after much encouragement from her, he got back on the bike after the rain stopped and joined the others who were determined to finish.

One stroke of the pedal after another, Ihsan gained his momentum back and by the 70th lap, in his heart he knew he was gonna make it – and he did, as the first one to complete the Challenge, with a total elapsed time of 21 hours.

If it wasn’t for his wife, friends and supporters, he might have gone home much earlier. Finishing the PURPOSE Everesting Challenge became his proudest moment in his life – it’s not a race, not a competition, but a testament of his strong resolution.

Throughout the entire Everesting Challenge, Ihsan wore the same set of PURPOSE cycling jersey and bib shorts. Cold, hot, rainy, windy; the kit conquered them all. Comfortable and durable for all kinds of rides, Ihsan gives credit to the kit for giving him one less thing to worry about.

It has only been 12 months. In the sport of triathlon that is fairly new to him. A hunt for the perfect performance apparel for the sport led Ihsan to PURPOSE.

His thorough research on the fabrics used, his stalking of other athletes’ reviews and the regular PURPOSE Fellowship sessions. It was a no-brainer that PURPOSE was the brand to go for.

In its name, PURPOSE gives Ihsan the feeling that he is doing something for a PURPOSE each and every time he puts on the kit. That’s how he fell in love.