#BlogO13

"If you are first, you are first. If you are second, you are a nothing" - Bill Shankly

I live my life by that quote, simply because everyone remembers who came first, never who came second. Last week I partook in the inaugural Mr Price Sport Blog Olympics, which saw 24 of the countries top lifestyle and sport bloggers compete in teams based on the city they're from, namely #TeamDurbs, #TeamJozi, #TeamCT. 3 teams, 8 events, 1 city to claim bragging rights as the first ever winners of the Mr Price Sport Blog Olympics. The challenge was clearly on from the get go as there was much fighting talk leading up to the event by the various competitors, I mean whats a competition without any banter? 

the Bloggers

When the day finally arrived and the competitors were flown in from various corners of the country, everyone had a chance to eye out the competition. It became very apparent that #TeamJozi were the ones to beat as their team included the likes of Mr Price Sport ambassador @NonhleNdala and SA hockey player @WadePaton. That didn't deter us though, it just made us want to win even more!... okay I lie, we were shit scared! After a signing our life away and changing into the sleek sporting gear that was provided for us, we made our way out to the hallowed turf of the @MMStadium. For many of the out of town bloggers, it was their first visit to the stadium and they were blown away by it. Who can blame them, besides being an architectural masterpiece it has a freaken arch dude! 

Moses in all its glory

Back to the Olympics, it was time for the first event, the Hula Hoop. Now unlike Shakira, my hips do lie...a lot. I couldn't hula to save my life as a child and nothing much has changed to this day, as I was eliminated within 10 seconds. Chia from @thesocialite however kept Durban's flag flying strong as she kept up with the others but only managed 4th place.

 Kate Nokwe claiming victory in the hula hoops

On to the next one, which was ring toss. You've seen it being played in movies and you automatically think "piece of cake, I can do that!", yeah but actually playing it is another story altogether. We were given 5 chances and there were 5 cones of which we could score points, another one of my favourite sayings is "Go big or go home", so I chose to aim for the high scoring cones further back. Suffice to say I lived up to that saying, I went big.... but I went home with nothing.

Kevin Robarts in action at the ring toss

I gathered whatever pride I had left and made my way to the next event. Now they should have have given points to people who could pronounce the name first time round. "The Waboba Ball" its a ball that can bounce on water! For this challenge we had to bounce/ skip the ball on the various levels of the fountain leading down to peoples park. The more levels it landed on, the more points you got. My aim has gotten a bit off since I stopped playing cricket a while back, so I'd just like to apologise to the cameraman I hit.

Matthew Savides winds one up for the Waboba Ball challenge

After a fun filled morning it was time to break for lunch, if only this could have counted as an event, myself and @matthewsavides would have gotten Team Durbs some much needed points! As you may have gathered things weren't looking good for us, so we had to put on our game faces for the rest of the challenges. 

Look at that level of concentration!

The next 4 events included bouncing a ball, kicking a sack, throwing darts and flinging a frisbee, sounds like child's play but when you're up against hardcore athletes its safe to say "shit got real". The mile high challenge required us to bounce a rubber ball over a series of ropes which was pretty straight forward. Hacky sack on the other hand proved to be a challenge for many as we ended up kicking each other more than the sack itself. The dart throw or Zooper Trooper as its known would have been up my alley, if I had known how to play darts but the super frisbee was pretty cool. Its a pimped out frisbee that can fly 4 to 5 times the distance to your normal one. Put it this way, if you had a dog, it would make you fetch it yourself. 

Dylan Moore in action at the hackey sack

The last event for the day was a relay challenge which only 4 people from each team could take part in, I decided to sit this one out as I didn't want to embarrasses myself  the rest of the competition. It was a tight race for the first two places with @MrCPTBlog just pipping Joburg for first place right at the end. Whilst the judges tallied the scores, the bloggers were whisked away for a ride on the skycar to the top of the arch. It is the best viewing platform the city has to offer and the views on a clear day are unmatched. 

Team Cape Town

Prize giving provided many surprises as Tyrone Woods scooped first place with Andrew Berry coming second and Uno de Waal in 3rd. The competition for winning city was close but ultimately Team Cape Town came out tops and took a well deserved win as the first ever champions of Mr Price Sport Blog Olympics.

Sun Square Hotel at night

Now that the competition was over and we all were sweaty and smelly it, we were transported to the Suncoast Sun Square hotel where we freshened up and were treated to sundowners and snacks at the pool side. A perfect way to spend the afternoon after a heavy day in the sun, the party continued to the famous Spiga D'oro where we travelled in style with Uber and were treated to Italian cuisine at its best, there may have been a bottle of patron mixed in among the celebrations. For some the night was over but for the brave, (including myself) made our way back to the hotels casino for more fun.

Kirsty Bisset aka The Patron Princess

It was a surely a day I wont forget and will be eagerly awaiting my invite for the 2014 event *hint*, it was great to meet the bloggers from other cities and spend a day socializing and having fun. All the activities were made up by using items that can be bought from Mr Price Sport new recreational range and would make the perfect Christmas gift for many, I know I got a few in mind that I want to purchase! In the end, Team Durban took bronze but Bill didn't mention anything about the team who finishes 3rd ;-)

Team Durban

A big thanks to Mr Price Sport for making this all possible and to the team at Paton Tupper for organising such an amazing event. Thanks also to the team at Moses Mabhida Stadium for providing the iconic venue and the trip up the arch, Tsogo Sun, Sun Sqaure Hotel for our accommodation, Uber for transporting us in style and Spiga D'oro for some great chow!