Purdie’s unconventional training methods, such as carrying a 50-lb bucket of cement through the woods, definitely help him overcome the Beast obstacle course.
Courtesy of James Purdie
Purdie’s unconventional training methods, such as carrying a 50-lb bucket of cement through the woods, definitely help him overcome the Beast obstacle course.
Courtesy of James Purdie
Purdie’s unconventional training methods, such as carrying a 50-lb bucket of cement through the woods, definitely help him overcome the Beast obstacle course.
Courtesy of James Purdie
Purdie with his son Jamieon, who also placed and qualified for the upcoming competition in Sparta, Greece.
Courtesy of James Purdie
Purdie with his son Jamieon, who also placed and qualified for the upcoming competition in Sparta, Greece.
Courtesy of James Purdie
One of the worst things you can do for yourself is to assume that your best years are in your youth.
Young people spend so much time stressing over getting older and all of the things that they think they won’t be able to do. Somehow the idea that it’s all downhill after we enter our thirties makes the idea of getting older really scary.
Perhaps this explains why young people are always so impressed with and inspired by James Purdie, a 64-year-old Bladen County man who dedicates himself to fitness and endurance competitions.
Recently, Purdie and his son Jamieon competed in the Fayetteville Spartan Trifecta Weekend. The father-son duo took on The Beast, which is a 21K run obstacle course. The elder Purdie came in first place in his age group and 26th in the men’s group and 26th overall against a total of 1,627 competitors.
In Purdie’s experience, it’s people his own age who are the most resistant to the idea that older adults can accomplish big things.
“Folks my age seem to think they are not physically fit [enough] to compete, therefore that’s when the criticism takes place, which goes in one ear and out the other,” Purdie explained about the reactions of people his own age regarding the competitions. “I’ve had several older people tell me that they just can’t get in their head to believe I came in 1st. I usually respond with the phrase ‘I’m unbreakable,’” continued Purdie.
Training
Purdie prepares for these competitions with the help of his son Jamieon, who is a Spartan and the owner of Off Task Fitness Center in Fayetteville.
Purdie says that his strong foundation of endurance training is crucial to compete at his level.
“I train myself to run at least 3 hours at a time, never stopping. Weekly long runs have me ready to roll!”
Bladen County residents or travelers passing through may see Purdie as he trains. He can be spotted during the very late night/early morning hours running across Cape Fear River in Tar Heel as hard as he can for five repetitions. He also regularly runs from Dowe Dairy Road in White Oak all the way to Highway 242 in Ammon, and back to White Oak.
Purdie works extensively with bodyweight exercises. Every day he completes at least 100 situps and does 50 pull-ups twice a day.
“Eating right is the foundation of high performance,” Purdie explained. “Lots of runners use enhancement liquids to compete and lots of times I find myself running past those using enhancements. I’m all natural with no enhancements, only pure caffeine packets, and salty peanuts.” Purdie also stresses the importance of staying hydrated, even during periods of rest.
What comes next?
Purdie and his son qualified for the Trifecta World Championship in Sparta, Greece. He says they also qualified for last year’s competition as well, but Purdie decided that he was not physically fit enough for the competition in Greece due to the increased distance, uneven terrain, and elevation gain.
“Now,” said Purdie, “I’m more excited because I am ready physically and mentally to go and bring back a prestigious metal and also to represent Bladen County.”
One might assume that Purdie and his son might take some time whilst in Greece to relax, but that would be incorrect.
“We are going for competition and [there will be] no time for pleasure because we are Spartans and pleasure isn’t in our vocabulary when running these races,” Purdie explained.
After deciding he wasn’t ready to compete in Greece last year, Purdie did the necessary research to determine how to prepare for the future, saying “We studied and know what to expect in the Sparta competition. We learned the terrain with modern GPS.”
Purdie is also beginning to dream past the upcoming competition in Greece, saying “I would love to compete in Zimbabwe next year.”
Besides Jamieon, Purdie has three other sons who demonstrate that physical ability is embedded in their DNA. Ulysses is a personal trainer at Dream Works in Elizabethtown. Quentavis is a Strongman Competitor in Ft. Worth, Texas. Rahu Purdie played professional basketball in Europe and is now coaching basketball in Charlotte.