Pattaya to Phi Phi Challenge

What was the activity?

This was a charity fund raising event which took place on a Friday after school. Each participating team had to pay an entry fee and then on the day of the event the teammates had to cover as many laps between themselves as possible (either on the running track or in the pool). The aim was for everyone combined to cover the distance from Pattaya to the island of Koh Phi Phi and back.

All the participants getting ready for the challenge

What were my main aims?

1. To keep up the team spirit

2. To challenge myself physically

3. To be a risk-taker by covering the distance using several different means of travel including walking, biking, roller skating, swimming, jogging, running etc.

Jogging around the oval

What did I do?

After school my team and I got dressed up into black sports attire along with pink tutus. The idea behind this was to have fun but at the same time I think it helped keep up the team spirit as the matching outfits really united us. During the four hours of the event I covered the necessary distance by walking, jogging and swimming. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to try out roller skating and biking which had been one of my aims. I will definitely try to do this next year though. By the end of the event I had managed to raise my heartbeat and work up a bit of a sweat just as I’d hoped so I definitely got a good sense of achievement. The overall distance covered by all the teams combined managed to exceed the distance from Pattaya to Koh Phi Phi AND back! At the end of the day you could tell that everyone felt really proud and had had a lot of fun. I didn’t manage to meet all of my targets but they are definitely something I can work on during next year’s challenge.

My team and I before the start of the challenge

What problems did I encounter along the way?

The main problem I encountered was that I got tired much faster than expected. The solution was to pace myself and whenever I got too exhausted I’d take a break and buy something to drink or eat.

My team and I swimming laps in the pool

What did I achieve?

Overall our team ended up not doing very well in terms of total distance covered when compared to the rest of the participants but we were still pleased with ourselves because we all managed to have a good time. We also donated some extra money to charity in addition to the compulsory amount. This made us feel good about ourselves as it was for a good cause and ultimately fundraising was the whole point of this activity. I was pleased because I managed to achieve my goal of being a risk-taker by covering the distance using different means of transport, come of which I may not have been very comfortable with.