DRAGONS AND FLOWERS FESTIVAL 2019
As with every event in any year, Pool of Life wake early in the morning and check the weather to see how many clouds are in the sky. This year June 15th was no exception, we prayed for good weather on the day from the minute the date is set. Our prayers were answered; whilst not overwhelmingly warm the day was dry and the sun was shining. We started our day at 7.30am, setting up ready for a day of fun, racing, eating amazing cakes, and dressing up in lovely costumes. We had teams dressed as Nurses and Doctors, Warriors and Pirates!
We had a total of 17 teams enter and all were set up and registered by 9.30am, ready to start our day. We had teams from Wallasey, Runcorn, St Helens, Windermere, Worcester, Bournemouth, Oxford, Ireland and, of course, Liverpool. We had medical teams of doctors and breast care nurses, oncologists and surgeons from The Royal Liverpool and St Helens & Whiston hospitals, along with four teams of breast cancer survivors.
We started the day at 10am with our traditional flower ceremony in memory of those we have lost to the cancer we all share in some way or another, either as a patient, a family member, an administer of treatment and health care, or supporter.
Once this ceremony was complete, we started the day’s racing with the Breast Cancer Survivor category. We were racing for the flower trophy and this year it was won by Pink Champagne, our sister paddlers from Bournemouth. We then started the full days event with each team racing three times to qualify for either the major or minor final. Each team put their heart and soul into the 350 metre races, admirably organised and run by Dave Bangs and the Amathus Dragon Boat club.
We ran the minor and major finals at 3pm followed by a slalom race called the ‘Sue Banner Challenge’. We lost Sue in February of this year and the final race was run in her memory.
The winners on the day were:
Fancy Dress – Wallasey Warriors
Fund raiser – David Lloyd gym, Speke
Most Improved team – Utopia Boats n Hoes
Flower trophy – Pink Champagne
Minor Final – Warriors of Aloha
Major Final – Merseycare
Pool of Life would like to say a big thank you to all of those who entered, raced, and supported us in what is our annual showcase event, where would we be without you.
