WASHINGTON, N.C. (WNCT) — A Beaufort County senior is proving it is never too late to reach your goals.

Fred Cherry, 65, of Washington, qualified for the 2023 Nobull Crossfit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. Cherry has trained at Fitness Unlimited and BOCO CrossFit for almost 10 years to reach this goal.

“As long as you want it bad enough, you can go and get it. he always works out with guys, like I’m 36 and he can work out with people my age or in their 40’s and 50’s,” said Cherry’s coach and director of BOCO CrossFit, Manny Vidal. “I think it’s pretty cool because if he can’t do it, he’s going to try till he can. It took him 6-7 years, but he finally did it.”

Cherry said his motivation comes from loving what he’s doing.

“Being competitive, I just always enjoy that part and everything we do is different,” Cherry said. “It’s a different workout every day, so it’s just not boring and it’s always something exciting to do.”

Gym owner Amy Gerard, said this isn’t just a big accomplishment for Cherry, but for her business also.

“It’s pretty awesome. I don’t think a lot of people realize the scale that it is, do you know what I mean?” Gerard said. “Because it’s not just North Carolina, it’s just not the U.S., it’s basically everyone in the world his age that can compete and does CrossFit.” 

She adds Cherry’s consistency and focus on achieving his goals should be great motivation to others.

“He’s just consistent and he’s made it part of his day-to-day life and we all can do that in my opinion, it’s just making it a priority,” Gerard said.

Cherry said his gym community has rallied behind him with fundraising efforts to send him to the competition this August.