Purpose Magazine

Sean Parish: From accompanying a friend to doing his first Ironman

The initial intention was not to take part in triathlons, but to accompany his friend for her first sprint triathlon. “Three years ago, I never considered doing triathlons. I was accompanying my friend on her open water swims, bike rides and runs,” said Sean Parish. “It then got to a point where I realised since I was doing all the training, I might as well enter the race myself. So I did and I enjoyed it so much that I upgraded all my equipment, got a coach to help me create a formal training plan and went on to do...

5 tips on how to improve your endurance by Zach Bitter

After achieving so much in the space of endurance running, multiple world record holder Zach Bitter likes how “training for endurance events often crosses over into other aspects of life and how important enjoying the process is to have a successful outcome at a race or for any health benefit targets”. He said, “The process of sitting down, asking yourself what you want to prepare for and planning it out and executing the plan is such an important skill to develop for any project or life goal you might have in sight. “I also often remind myself that there are so...

Dayang Syahida: Despite having scoliosis, her goal is to complete an Ironman

Seven years ago, with no experience in triathlon, Dayang Syahida (@dayangcha) told a friend that she will complete an Ironman triathlon in 10 years. The 31-year-old civil servant completed her first ever triathlon in 2019 and through the encouragement and much support from her friends, her respect for the sport grew even more. Being diagnosed with scoliosis eight years ago, Dayang’s main priority is to stay active and physically healthy, but this does not stop her from challenging herself. “Keeping active is the only way I could prevent myself from having to endure back pain that worsens whenever I’m in...

Purpose Driven Cycling Club: Forging healthy friendships through cycling

The first major ride for Indonesia’s newly-formed Purpose Driven Cycling Club (PDCC) was the Tour de Cirebon where 17 members – all decked out in the same PURPOSE PRO Mirage cycling jersey – rode 160 kilometres from Cikampek to Cirebon. “PDCC is a cycling community formed in September with the objective of creating healthy friendships through the shared passion of cycling,” said Teddy Y. Danas, 54, founder of PDCC and Senior Vice President of Bank Mandiri. “The members of this community are cycling enthusiasts who live around Bintaro and frequently ride the Bintaro Loop. Because of the strong emphasis on...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Zach Bitter, World Record Holder – 100 Miles & 12 Hours Track Run, 100 Miles & 12 Hours Treadmill Run

This man needs no introduction. We watched him break the 100 Miles Treadmill Run World Record during a time where most, or all, of us were confined within the walls of our homes. In that same session, he also broke the world record for the furthest distance in 12 hours on the treadmill. Prior to this, he already held the world record for 100 Miles and 12 Hours on the track. This man is Zach Bitter, whom we just launched a running collection with – complete with his signature on the singlets, tshirt and shorts. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Zach’s...

MADE OF WORLD RECORDS: The Zach Bitter Signature Series 1 collection

Our partnership with Zach Bitter started with a bang when he wore our Elite Racing HYPERMESH running singlet and broke the world record for the 100 Miles (160 kilometres) Treadmill Run. 12 hours 9 minutes and 5 seconds. On a treadmill. Literally running on the spot. How?! All that time spent hopping from one treadmill to another with an average speed of 7:18 per mile (4:32 per km). Simply astounding. Highly respectable. He wasn’t watching any TV and he was barely listening to any music either. Mindblown. The best part? He wore the same set of PURPOSE Elite Racing running...

Pete Farnsworth: Purpose-built for this climate

Pete Farnsworth started out as an avid cyclist, mostly doing mountain biking on the trails. His first brush with triathlon was when he did the bike leg for a team relay at a triathlon race in Singapore. About the same time, his son was born and he had less time to travel for his mountain biking adventures. Thus, he started doing more runs and road rides, which quickly morphed into an addiction for triathlon. “I started taking it more seriously and then signed up with COS Coaching to learn how to train properly,” the 42-year-old regional director of customer experience...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Mandy Chan, building a S$2.5 million lifestyle brand by the age of 24

At a young age of 19 when most teenagers are chasing their K-pop idols or getting videos done for Tik Tok, Mandy Chan took a gap year so she could start her own business to sell her idea – a multi-functional sports bag. This idea came to her when she kept forgetting to bring her toiletries whenever she went to the gym. It hit her that she needed a multi-functional bag which can also house her toiletries, on top of her everyday things and gym gear. This was how BOW was born – designed for modern people who have many...

5 reasons why you should wear PURPOSE

Our products are designed and developed specifically for our climate. The heat and humidity in this part of the world, in our Southeast Asian region, is no joke. With humidity levels that can hit 80% and upwards, it is very important for us to try and keep ourselves as cool as possible when working out in this kind of tropical climate. When the temperature and humidity levels are high, what happens is evaporative cooling gets restricted and this means the body core temperature may rise and that may affect performance or risk overheating of the body. Hence, our advanced fabric technology HYPERMESH™ is designed to...

Martin Choo: Cycling has always been a constant in life

Cycling has always been a constant for Martin Choo, providing him with direction and being the activity that helps to clear his head and reflect on life. A big part of his life since he was a kid, the 43-year-old used to cycle to school from the age of 13 all the way through to university. Then when he was living in California, he got a road bike for his birthday and went on to do triathlons, as well as race as an amateur cyclist. Thus it was no surprise when Martin moved to Singapore in 2012 and started his...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Rupert Chen, from mechanical engineer to triathlete development

RC Coaching is a name you would have (and should have) heard of if you’re in the sport of triathlon in Malaysia. Named after the founder and head coach Rupert Chen, RC Coaching started out with him coaching some close friends for a couple of years for free, while he started to race at more competitive levels. Soon after, he decided to take up coaching certification and RC Coaching became his full-time job. In just a few years, with three full-time staff, three full-time coaches, six part-time coaches and about 150 students across Klang Valley and Penang, Rupert aspires to...

Kelly Pereira: Triathlons helped her to overcome anxiety and focus in life

Feeling lost in life, Kelly Pereira struggled to find a focus.⁠ “Being on the bigger side didn’t help and I didn’t have much self-worth,” the 38-year-old jobs skills analyst said.⁠Nine years ago, Kelly was diagnosed with diabetes and four years ago, with gastroparesis. Already feeling that the world was against her, her diagnosis alleviated an anxiety that had already been bubbling beneath the surface. At that very moment, Kelly realised the only way to overcome them was to change her lifestyle. During this time a friend who evolved into a mentor introduced her to triathlons, something she wanted to try...

Richard Farren & Sophie King: One year to turn pro

People are getting retrenched and losing their jobs. People are turning to alternative sources of income, like starting home-based baking businesses. It is a strange time, one that brings uncertainty, but also courage. Richard Farren and Sophie King chose this exact period to chase their dreams. The goal is to turn professional in triathlon in a year’s time. In August, they left their lives in Singapore behind and moved to the United Kingdom to start their #oneyeartogopro journey. “We are living the dream,” said Richard, who was the country head of ProActiv Sports in Singapore before they left. “Don’t get...

A Note From The Founder: BETWEEN MANY WORLDS, IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. THE 20/21 SEASON SERIES.

In many ways, the launch of the PURPOSE 20/21 Season Series is influenced by the transformative period that we are all going through. As the team and I were brainstorming on the theme that will carry through the stories we want to tell, we know that it must resonate with what everyone is facing and feeling, especially being kept out of action for a very long time. At the same time, we want to create products that go deeper into the roots of who we are. Over the years, we have grown from not only being products well designed for...

CUSTOM by PURPOSE – Philipp Kloeber: Supporting ocean conservation through triathlons

Seeing ocean dead-zones, bleached corals and armies of industrial fishing vessels on his diving trips in recent years made Philipp Kloeber feel angry and shocked about the state of the reefs, which were a stark contrast to his childhood diving memories. “I wanted to stand up and do something to protect what I felt was so important to me. It is difficult to fully describe the vivid life in the ocean if you haven’t been there and explored this yourself. What happens beneath the surface and far into the oceans is a different and often terrifying reality,” said the Ironman...

CUSTOM by PURPOSE – Kenneth Tan: “A brand that understands the harsh conditions of tropical weather”

Kenneth Tan used to be extremely active and fit back in high school, competing in canoeing at the national level. Now 30, he actually completed his first Ironman 70.3 at the age of 18. ⁠However, once he entered the corporate world, he gave his health and fitness a backseat due to the extreme work hours that came with working in his previous job in the audit industry. “I kid you not,” he said, “I was working close to 100 hours per week at times.”⁠ “The design of my PURPOSE custom trisuit is actually the logo of my current company. As...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Allison Yee – On her purpose as an undergraduate, entrepreneur, national triathlete

Only 24 years of age, Allison Yee has accomplished more than her peers, in competitive sports, academics and business. So what’s her secret to balancing all these at the same time? “Time management is important for any triathlete or high achiever,” she said. About a year ago, Malaysian national triathlete Allison decided to start her own home-based confectionary bakery called Zeal. In her pursuit of building her business, she realised that the core essence of success is similar to being a triathlete – perseverance. Just like triathlon which involves three types of sports, Allison’s life is split into three main...

Inspired by two worlds. Designer Sue Kay talks about the ideas behind the 20/21 Series

Clad in skin-tight Lycra and punishing themselves in the heat. That’s what most people see when they watch a triathlon race. Not for the creative mind that Sue Kay has. With a mind that thinks in pictures, Sue associated the sport of triathletes to amphibians when she was spectating her first Ironman 70.3 race six years ago. It amazed her, just “how fast and swift they move from one environment to the other; almost without thinking, almost second nature.” That thought stayed in Sue’s mind thus when it came to designing PURPOSE’s 20/21 collection of new trisuits and cycling kits,...

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...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Andy Wibowo, from Olympian swimmer to rising Ironman star

Ironman age group elite athlete Andy Wibowo from Indonesia is a well-known name in the triathlon circuit, having qualified for the prestigious Ironman World Championship in Kona twice, as well as often winning triathlon races of varying distances. Triathlon, however, is his second competitive sports career. He was first a swimmer, specialising in the 100m butterfly, with medals from the Southeast Asian Games in this event. He  also qualified for the men’s 100m butterfly at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. But did you know that before he started swimming, he was trying his hand at badminton? Having achieved the highest...

An easier way to Custom with Custom by Purpose

Message from Founder, Noor Aziz Nothing happens by staying still Hello all; Today I’m proud to announce CUSTOM by PURPOSE, an end-to-end online design-to-production, including order taking and fulfilment facility for teams, clubs, groups and corporate customers. Since we launched PURPOSE Custom services 2 years ago, it has grown and contributes a large percentage to our revenues with racings teams, tri and cycling groups, as well as corporates clubs from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, United States, France and many others choosing to wear custom kits made by PURPOSE. Now we’re taking custom to the next level. 4 months ago...

PURPOSE Everesting Challenge 2020

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...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Josiah Ng, 3-time Olympian and the motivation to motivate others

Malaysian professional track cyclist Josiah Ng (now retired) was the first Malaysian to make it into the Olympic cycling finals, before going on to become a three-time Olympian at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Based in Malaysia now, Josiah had an illustrious cycling career, including a Commonwealth Games gold medal, three Asian Championship gold medals, two Southeast Asian Games gold medals and more. Growing up in the States, Josiah secretly went cycling at night, hiding his bicycle at his friend’s home, as his parents did not approve of his cycling endeavours. At the age of 18, his father...

The PURPOSE Podcast: Masri Khairuman, from prisons to pools

After working in the prison for 20 years (his first and only job since he finished national service), Masri Khairuman resigned to pursue a completely new career – as a swim coach. At the age of 42, Masri realised he had fallen out of love with rehabilitation work and was all excited to start something else. Not wanting to wait until he is retired to start looking for a career in sports coaching – which he felt might be too late – he took a leap of faith and made the jump, with the full support of his wife. Now...

Made of HYPERMESH™ – A look at the fabric innovation found in Purpose performance kits

At the heart of all our products is our advanced fabric technology – HYPERMESH™. Unlike other kits made of a single, one-dimensional fabric, HYPERMESH™ is made of multiple advanced fabrics, layered over different parts. Delivering functionality targeted at different areas, this provides the best breathability, air flow-through and comfort. Different grades of Polyamide, Elastane and Nylons in HYPERMESH™ makes PURPOSE one of, if not the best heat dissipation capability in a trisuit, cycling jersey or running kit. Designed for hot and humid conditions, HYPERMESH™ helps you to keep cool, even when the heat gets to you. This is HYPERMESH™. Here...