Hurrah - We Came Second!
Activ’s Theo Dragon Boat Race team, The Pain Killer’s, on the podium accepting their trophy and flowers after crossing the finish line at a close second place - 1 second behind the winners.
Perseverance, paddle-power (plus pep talks from Marianne!) propelled us into second place - and raised more than £1,400 for The Children’s Hospital Charity
We are all so proud that ‘The Pain Killers’, came second in Theo’s Dragon Boat Race on Sunday 2nd June at Manvers Lake, Rotherham. The race was the first fundraising even of its kind organised by The Children’s Hospital Charity.
Our 17-strong team was among nine (including three teams of our hospital staff and members of Sheffield’s Chinese community) to race across the picturesque lake in blazing sunshine to help the charity raise a grand total of over £16,000.
The day got off to a great start with Andy leading the team through some physio warm-up exercises, and Marianne giving the first of many motivational pep talks to get us into a positive, winning mindset - and possibly scare the hell out of our opposition!
We were soon climbing into our 40ft-long, ornately carved dragon boat for our first race which we were amazed to win! The taste of success quickly fired us up and we were thrilled to win all our heats, qualifying us for the final race against strong opposition - ‘Team Nick’.
Big thanks must go to George’s son, Archie, who wrote notes about each race from his observations from the start line - near the resident terrapins - to give us an invaluable insight into how we could continually adapt and improve our paddling strategy.
Our continued winning streak made us even more determined to win the price trophy as we heard the final ‘Go’, and paddles hit the water in unison. The sounds of cheers from lakeside spectators could be heard above the thrashing of the water in time with the drum beat.
Team Nick was determined to give us a run for our money and were soon in the lead, but our team kept in sync. We remembered that good paddling techniques and collaborative teamwork would enable our boat to move faster to glide more efficiently through 200m of water to the finish.
Thanks for Your Support!
We also remembered Marianne’s mantra ‘Kill The Pain'!’ and kept our eyes on the prize as we worked a a team. We tried not to be distracted by Team Nick in the lead as we exerted all our energy to paddle smarter. With the finish buoys in sight, we were soon speeding up! However, despite our best efforts - and closing in on our opposition within the last couple of metres - we cross the finish line (with euphoric, whoops of joy) in an admirable time of 1:04:29 compared to Team Nick’s winning time of 1:03:03.
Andy (pictured in top picture with the whole team) said: ‘It was a fantastic day in the sun. I am so proud of the team. We did so well working together in the dragon boat. Only losing by a second to an all-male team is a great achievement. Team Nick were rowing in honour of a friend who had passed away, so they are definitely worthy winners and we applaud them!’
All participants (there were more than 150 individual paddlers) were fundraising for the benefit of thousands of children who are championed and supported by The Children’s Hospital Charity every day of the year. This year’s inaugural dragon boat race, named after Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s friendly mascot bear, is to raise funds for the build of a much-awaited National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT) which benefit children from Sheffield and across the UK.
THC’s Events Fundraising Manager, Emily Beahan, said: ‘We are delighted with the support from local companies and teams for our first Theo’s Dragon Boat Race. The funds raised will go towards building our new world class facility on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. The Pain Killers did extremely well considering none of the team had say in a dragon boat before! We have received great feedback and are definitely planning to stage the event next year!’
Thanks to all who donated. We have raised £1,446* (and rising!) for the charity. If you would like to help boost funds, please click on the link below:
*Correct at the time of publishing.
Andy Okwera holding the trophy and certificate awarded to The Pain Killer’s on 2nd June at Theo’s Dragon Boat Race.
