BKL GAMES '26. THAT’S A WRAP!

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GAMES 26 — THAT’S A WRAP!

Four weeks. Two teams. One champion.

What started as a bit of friendly competition turned into something quite spectacular.

We biked. We rowed. We skied. We walked millions of steps. We chased Freddos, went Alpine Fishing, smashed balls, destroyed Jenga towers, stumbled around blindfolded, threw Rock Paper Scissors like our lives depended on it… and finally emptied the tanks one last time in Chain Reaction.

And after four weeks of battle, it all came down to the very last challenge of Games Day.

You genuinely couldn’t have scripted it better.

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YOUR GAMES 26 CHAMPIONS — GYM AND TONIC

GYM AND TONIC — 3,100 POINTS
ROYAL COMMANDOS — 3,060 POINTS

FORTY. POINTS.

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That was all that separated our two teams after the entire competition.

And huge credit has to go to Royal Commandos. They pushed, battled and competed right until the final metres. They came into Games Day fighting and made Gym And Tonic earn absolutely every bit of that victory.

But when everything was on the line in Chain Reaction, Gym And Tonic found that tiny bit extra and pipped the Commandos to the post by the smallest of margins.

What. A. Finish.

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BUT GAMES 26 WAS NEVER REALLY ABOUT THE SCOREBOARD

Yes, we wanted competition.

Yes, we wanted people desperately trying to beat the other team.

And yes, bragging rights are going to be enjoyed by Gym And Tonic for quite some time…

But the thing we’ll remember most about Games 26 isn’t 3,100 vs 3,060.

It’s the people.

It’s teammates encouraging each other to do another few metres.

People doing challenges they probably wouldn’t normally have attempted.

Photos appearing in the group chats at ridiculous hours.

Captains rallying their troops.

The banter.

The tactics.

The questionable interpretations of the rules.

And above everything else, seeing a group of people come together, get involved and have a bloody good time doing it.

That’s what Games 26 was supposed to be.

And you lot absolutely smashed it.

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A HUGE SHOUT-OUT TO OUR CAPTAINS

Captain Tim — Gym And Tonic
Captain Lucy — Royal Commandos

You took two groups of people and turned them into teams.

Thank you for the messages, encouragement, organisation, score chasing, tactical masterplans and general herding of cats required over the last four weeks.

Games 26 simply wouldn’t have been the same without you both.

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AND NOW FOR TWO VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE…

GAMES HERO — KAREN BROWN

A massive congratulations to our Games 26 Hero, Karen Brown.

This award represents exactly what we wanted Games 26 to be about.

Getting involved. Giving it everything. Supporting the people around you. Having a laugh. Being part of the team. And showing other people what’s possible when you’re prepared to have a go.

Karen, you’ve been awesome and genuinely inspiring throughout.

Very, very well deserved.

RUNNER-UP — KARL SMITHSON

And a huge shout-out to Karl Smithson, our Games Hero runner-up.

Another person who threw himself into Games 26, embraced the madness and helped make the whole thing what it became.

Awesome effort, Karl — and thank you for inspiring the people around you.

You should both be incredibly proud.

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AND TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO TOOK PART…

Whether you scored hundreds of thousands of metres, smashed an individual challenge, scraped together a few extra steps, represented your team on Games Day, shouted yourself hoarse from the sidelines or simply did something you didn’t think you could do…

You contributed to Games 26.

There were no professionals here.

No elite athletes.

Just normal people deciding to get involved, challenge themselves and support each other.

And that’s exactly why it worked.

Hopefully somewhere amongst all the chaos, somebody watched you and thought:

“Maybe I could do that.”

Because that’s how the next generation of Gamers starts.

You don’t need to be the fastest.

You don’t need to be the strongest.

You don’t even need to think of yourself as particularly competitive.

You just need to be willing to step up and have a go.

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GAMES 26

CHAMPIONS — GYM AND TONIC — 3,100
ROYAL COMMANDOS — 3,060

GAMES HERO — KAREN BROWN
RUNNER-UP — KARL SMITHSON

Four weeks.
Two teams.
One hell of a competition.

To everyone who competed, supported, organised, captained, encouraged, laughed and suffered…

THANK YOU.

You were the first to take on Games 26.

You set the standard.

You created the stories.

And you’ve given the next bunch something pretty big to live up to.

As for what happens next… 👀

REST UP, GAMERS.

Because one day somebody is going to press…

CONTINUE?

YES

And when they do…

GAMES 27 WILL BE WAITING.

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