Mr Price Sport BlogO14

They say "consistency is the key to success", well that's not always the case as I found out the hard way. Last week saw me and 23 other sport and lifestyle bloggers compete as teams, region specific, for the crown as Mr Price Sport Blog Olympics champions for 2014. Being one of the surviving 3 members of  #TeamDBN from last year, I knew how competitive things were going to be. I was confident in our team's abilities, even though we came 3rd in the first challenge, that did not deter us as we kept our focus to win the second challenge of the day by a matter of seconds. 

@NJDbnRocks killing the hullahoop

If no one realised it by then, the fun and games from the opening party at Tsogo Sun's Suncoast Hotel the night before was quickly forgotten as we all were focused on one thing and that was bringing glory to our cities name. Next challenge was the super frisbee, it was a tricky one as we had to throw them into Durban's iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium with the swirling wind. Many got caught out by this and saw their efforts fly backwards into the stands. I seemed to have timed it well with myself and Jonas, also from TeamDBN looking to have thrown it the furthest. The jury is still out as to who did actually get the furthest but I'll be happy to collect the points for my team. 

Super frisbee time

It was a pretty warm day in Durbs and I along with everyone else was quite thankful for the cool refreshments provided by the sponsors, one of them being Sir Juice, nothing beats fresh fruit juice. The next few events which included the waboba ball and electric scooter race saw Team Cape Town claw back into the lead on the points table. I'm not the fittest guy around so most of these activities were quite energy sapping so the SportsMax recovery zone was quite welcomed. Not only were energy drinks given to the competitors but massages as well! 

@gordsried, @gijane_zn, @mynamesjonas, @AMG133, @sillysilson, @AndyCarrie, @NJDbnRocks, @SandyNeneSA #TeamDBN

After a short break which saw us go for lunch, we got straight back into the thick of it with Zooper Zarts, similar to darts but with no sharp pointy edge to poke someones eye out. It's probably more difficult as one has get the trajectory right to get it to stick to the board. Being Indian, one would think darts is second nature to me but it wasn't really. Although I was pleased that my catching skills were up to scratch from my cricketing days, pity it wasn't a ball but a water balloon that I was catching for the next challenge. Needless to say the cool water wasn't that bad seeing that I was in the sun the whole day. 

@gjane_zn chilling out

7 events down and with no clear cut leader it was time for the final challenge, the obstacle course. I consider myself an obstacle as it is so you can only imagine what went through my mind when I heard everyone had to take part in it. Last year I sat out but this year I had to suck it up, tumble around in that zorb ball, get lost in the maze and climb up a giant inflatable slide. Far from the pace of Usian Bolt I managed to some how complete it without dying and tagged my next team member in. Team Jozi eventually won the last challenge but everyone was rewarded with ice cream, not just any ice cream, protein packed ice cream! Some were rewarded in another way though, like jumping off the arch, yeah I'm glad my name didn't go in that hat but the people who did seemed to have enjoyed it. 

The competitors

The day ended off with a prize giving back at Suncoast Towers Hotel where the inevitable happened.., I was handed a lemon for getting lost in the maze. Eventually it was time to see who the winners were, as I said at the start consistency isn't always great as TeamDBN retained the bronze. I was proud of my team though, we did much better than the year before and showed great fighting spirit which I'm sure made the scoring extremely tight. TeamCPT remained consistent as well as they retained the title as winning city. We Durbanite's have a knack of showing our guests a good time when they in our city but I think next year we going to have to change things around. 

Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable event once again, even bigger and better than last year. It's the one event that allows the participants to get to know one another and are forced to interact with each other which is great for networking. The sponsors that came on board just took things to another level, a massive shout out to them, especially MR Price Sport & the folk at Paton Tupper for putting this all together, Tsogo Sun & Suncoast Towers for the great hospitality (look out for the review coming soon), Mercedes Benz Umhlanga for letting us experience their line up of luxury saloons that got us to and from the stadium (and for awarding me the AMG Advanced Driving Experience! Cannot wait!!!) and to Moses Mabhida Stadium, the best stadium in the world for the venue!

3rd place yet again