Niamh Wins Staff Olympics

Niamh upset the odds and won the first ever staff Olympics with an emphatic display of stamina and fitness. Babs claimed the silver medal with Gareth picking up the bronze.

Each competitor had to take part in four separate disciplines in succession – 500 metres on the cross training, a 1000 metre run, 500 skips and 10 lengths of the swimming pool (220 metres). The combined time for the four phases counted as their score.

In the gym section of the challenge Claire and Lorraine set fast times in practice on the cross trainer but on the day Chris came out on top with a time of 4 minutes and 2 seconds for the 500m distance. Babs was fastest for skipping with a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds. Gareth proved to be the fastest runner with a time of 4 minutes and 4 seconds over the 1000 metre distance. However Niamh’s consistency over the three phases helped her to build a narrow 27 second lead over Babs going into the swimming phase.

The swimming proved to be Niamh’s strongpoint however as she put in a performance that would have done Michael Phelps proud. Her time of 4 minutes and 8 seconds for the 10 lengths set an impossible standard for the other competitors. After the swimming Niamh’s combined time was 17 minutes and 45 seconds with Babs in second at 19 minutes and 41 seconds and Gareth in third just 30 seconds further back.

The event proved to be a source of great fun and friendly rivalry for all who took part. Everyone can point to where they could have done better and are already planning ways to shave some seconds off their times next time around. For the time being though we would all like to congratulate Niamh on her great win.