‘Fourth-fittest 70-year-old’ in the world
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Winnipeg Free Press subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $4.99 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To be physically fit is one thing, but to be 70 years old and ranked fourth best in the world in a CrossFit competition is something Brandon’s Doug Murray never thought he would achieve.
But Jenn McMillan, his fitness coach and co-owner of Rocked Community Fitness where he works out, said she had all the faith in the world in Murray.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment,” McMillan said.
Doug Murray trains at Rocked Community Fitness in Brandon on Tuesday. Murray placed fourth in the world in his age group at the 2025 Age-Group CrossFit Games in Columbus, Ohio, last month. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“Doug made the top 10 in the world and was invited to compete in the 2025 Age-Group CrossFit Games. And to be the fourth-fittest 70-year-old male in the world is pretty incredible.”
The games were held in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-August, and for the first time they had a male and female division for competitors 70 years and older, which included Murray, who had tried to qualify — without success — for the last five years.
“I got into it thinking that it would be fun because I have always enjoyed competing,” Murray said.
“I don’t have to win, I just enjoy the process. And the competition actually thins out when you get to my age group.
“Not everybody is fortunate enough where their body holds together for them, and I’ve been lucky that my body’s working as good now as it ever has. So, I was able to get it done,” he said.
People usually associate CrossFit with doing workouts by pushing giant tires and manoeuvring heavy ropes for overall body strengthening.
But it also includes running, doing pushups, chinups, a handstand pushup and lifting weights — which are just a few of the events that Murray competed in.
He and the nine other male athletes were tested over four days in eight different CrossFit events. They were judged on specific standards, including range of motion, proper form and time.
Doug Murray works through a set of GHD situps during a training class at Rocked Community Fitness in Brandon on Tuesday. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“There was a five-kilometre run as one of the events,” Murray said.
“And then there were different kinds of burpees, a bunch of abdominal exercises, whether it be GHD (glute hamstring developer), situps, or V-ups (raising the torso and legs to form a “V” shape). And there was toes to bar — hanging on a bar bringing your toes all the way up to the top,” he said.
“For weights, I did Olympic lifts like the snatch, the clean and jerk, and the deadlift.”
After each day of competition, the athletes were ranked. On the final day, Murray learned he had finished fourth.
“I was pleased and, you know, proud and happy, but I wasn’t expecting to be best in the world,” he said.
“There are some pretty fit old guys out there, and they just happened to have a little bit better mobility.”
When reminded of the saying that “70 is the new 55,” Murray laughed.
“That’s the bad part of this whole thing. It reminded me I’m 70, because I really do think I’m 50,” he said.
Murray chats with his coach, Jenn McMillan, co-owner of Rocked Community Fitness, while training at the gym in Brandon on Tuesday.
“Everybody else in the gym is younger than me and I kind of think I’m their age, not my age. So this was a sort of a nasty reminder about how old I really am,” he said with a chuckle.
Murray credited McMillan with helping him maintain his level of fitness and placement at the games, but she was quick to turn it back to him, saying he is setting a great example for the younger generation.
“I think we’re in a society where we’re scared to fall or we’re scared to do this, and so we just stop doing things,” McMillan said.
“And we miss out on these amazing opportunities, not only for physical fitness, but also for that community connection with people of different age groups that like the same things,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t ever make it to the CrossFit Games. Most of us won’t, but if we are feeling better than we did a week, a month or a year ago, then that’s all that matters.”
Murray has been physically active since he was a teenager, making the Brandon Wheat Kings team at 17 and going on to play in the Major Junior Hockey League. While in university in Alberta, was a member of the Calgary Dinos.
He said he used to do triathlons and is still working, somewhere between semi-retired and full-time, as CEO of Murray Auto Group, which has more than 30 car dealerships across Canada.
But he always finds time to work out.
Murray high-fives fellow classmates after a training class on Tuesday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
“I just like the way I feel after a good, hard workout, and it seems to be more fun and easier to do with other people who you interact with every day in the gym,” Murray said.
“We all put ourselves through some difficult workouts, and it’s motivating to have that kind of camaraderie.”
» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com
» enviromichele.bsky.social