Amazing Colombo Romp 2015 : Grand Finale 

The adventurous and fun-filled Tour de Colombo, Colombo Romp 2015 winded up in style with the winning team ‘Sweat Lovers’ walking away with some grand prizes. The event headed by Graham Brownlie and his energetic team was an absolutely interesting competition which was not only designed for participants to have fun but also to educate them about the whereabouts of Colombo. Fun, excitement, cheer and laughter were all part of the 4 hour journey around Colombo which included some mind-boggling and memorable challenges.

The Challenges and Venues 

The participants were expected to reach each destination, take a selfie at the venue and get their challenge sheet stamped by the Romp crew where they were given points. Few places they headed to included:

The Council Chamber (Colombo Municipal Council) – here the participants got a rare opportunity to see the chamber where the Mayor holds his meetings.

Vihara Maha Devi park – the participants were expected to take a ride on ‘ninebots’ following the instructions of the Romp crew.

Calorie Counter – the participants were  expected to match calories and guess the food items which they were presented with.

Skin & Tonic Salon – the ladies were allowed to wax a preferred part of a male team member’s body.

Speakers’ Corner (Galle Face Green) – here the participants had to gather a crowd and make a speech for a set time which also had to convey a message.

2nd Cross Street  (Pettah) – the participants had to take a ride on carts.

Toddy Tavern (Kotahena) – the participants had to gulp down a cup of toddy.

Landmarks near the Central Bank and High Security Zone – participants were given a challenge with a series of photos of landmarks which they had to find and take selfies with.

The Sandwich Factory – hot-dog eating challenge where the participants had to eat one hot-dog in one minute.

Independence Square – participants had to drive a Land Rover Discovery vehicle.

Participants 

While the clock was ticking fast all teams were in a hurry to become the winners of some amazing prices. However by 2.30pm which was the finishing time of the competition, most of the teams started pooling in back to the Park Street Mews. Although they looked exhausted to the core, some of them were excited enough to share their experience with Daily Mirror Life:

Shaazry from team ‘No Perfection

“I enjoyed a lot. I didn’t know that some places even existed until I went there even though I live in Colombo. This is the first time that I’m participating in this kind of an event and I should say that it was truly amazing.”

Gihan from ‘Green Team’

“It was amazing. I actually participated with my wife and for us some challenges were really tough like for example The Sandwich Factory challenge was pretty hard. But it was quite interesting.”

Kumar from team ‘Bodyworks’

“It wasn’t easy but as the name suggests, it was an amazing experience. We missed two places because they were quite difficult to find but we enjoyed every bit of the ride.”

Hannah from team ‘Rajap’

“We got to interact with the people and go places which was really fun. It was a good experience.”

Gayani from team ‘Romp Killers’

“It took us all around the city and we got to have toddy. It was so much fun and I should say it was a great event. Also I learned how to gobble hot-dogs.”

Team Paxter

“Some of the places were absolutely difficult to find. However we had a lot of fun.”

Lulua and Miqdad from team ‘Mickeys’

“It was hard but we had a lot of fun. It was interesting too.”

Team Hash Bunnies

“The challenges were really difficult but we somehow managed. There was some cool stuff like the toddy challenge.”

The Winners

With a total of 53,000 points, team ‘Sweat Lovers’ emerged as the winners of Amazing Colombo Romp 2015. While celebrating their victory they shared their thoughts with us :

“We have participated in similar competitions but this is the first time we are participating at the Romp. The clues were quite tricky but we somehow managed to find them. The drive around Colombo was super hectic but we are quite excited about our victory.”

By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe
Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja