Harbinger wins Inter-Division Strava Competition

Harbinger was the Champion Division (Boarding House) of the Inter-Division Strava Competition over the first week of March. Pupils were required to walk, run, ride, or row the distances and record the information on Strava. Harbinger covered an impressive 854.3 miles in just one week. 

‘With over 60% of the Division getting involved, any small or large contribution was something that we were celebrating,’ said Housemaster, Mr Dan Paynter. ‘Along with this, it gave the boys a reason to get out and exercise, something that would have done their physical and mental health the world of good in difficult times.’

The Harbinger staff were also fully involved and the boys were desperate to beat their times and distance. There were some very impressive scores from Mr Skidmore, Mrs Paynter, Mr Sumner, Mr Hewick and Mr McKane.

A number of the Harbinger pupils, known as Lions, enjoyed riding their bikes during lockdown when they were at home. This showed in this competition with the outstanding accumulation of miles by them in just one week. Max Maleham and Finn Apiafi, in particular, completed more than 10 hours of exercise.

The Division’s success was on the back of a Harbinger Division Challenge to do 100 press ups a day, every day of February for the charity, Challengers. They raised £445.

Mr Paynter said of that fundraising challenge: ‘A large majority of the Division got involved and it gave the boys something to strive for. Many of the boys commented on their feedback forms after lockdown that this was something that they were proud of and that it was something that they achieved. 

‘My advice to the boys was that although that challenge was a huge one, it could be broken down into chunks. Doing 15 press ups between each lesson, for example, would help towards the total. A great life lesson.’