PURPOSE Everesting Challenge 2020

September 03, 2020
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In celebration of this year’s Malaysia Merdeka Day, we created an Everesting Challenge to climb the elevation of Mt. Everest (8,848m) on our bicycles.

Led by SEA Games athlete and our community manager Ziq Junaidy, he led the charge to complete the target of 98 laps (1 lap = 2.2km with 92m ascent gain) of about 210km.

Congratulations to all who attempted and finished the Everesting Challenge – we had a quick chat with Ziq after he recovered from the amazing feat.

Why did you decide to plan an Everesting Challenge?

Ziq: There seems to be no races for 2020, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to challenge myself physically and mentally to another level!

How did you prepare for this?

Ziq: I believe this Challenge requires good endurance, especially on the bike. I only had less than three weeks to prepare for this, so I did some hard intervals on the hills and also spent most weekends on long rides with our PURPOSE Fellowship.

How did the Challenge go?

Ziq: We started at 5am in the morning on 29 August and ended on 30 August at 10am. We took about 29 hours to complete the Challenge, with moving time of about 16 hours.

The loop we took was a 2km loop outside Villa Orkid condominium – 1km up and 1km down – of 8.4% gradient and 92m elevation. To achieve Everest’s elevation of 8,848 metres, we had to cycle 98 loops.

Of the 25 who registered for this, only 15 were brave enough to show up. 7 of us completed the full Everesting Challenge and others reached base camp (half the elevation of Mt Everest). Salute to these 15 participants who came – real fighters they all were!

What went through your mind when you were doing it? Did you feel like giving up at any point?

Ziq: The first half of the climb was seriously doable for everyone I believe. Then the hardest part was the second half, which was really mental torture. I couldn’t believe that we made it eventually.

I want to sincerely thank all the supporters that came down to support; some during the day, some in the night and some who stayed throughout!

Also to our sponsors for this event – Restaurant D’Saujana, MSV Sinergi, Hammer Nutrition Malaysia, Hutan Ration, Real Outplay, Pro MMR Sport Recovery – THANK YOU!