Rajko & Dragan Vs London Wasps Rugby Team
Rajko's Blog.....
In the last decade I think my father has done more than 100 challenges all around the world, and I myself have probably done more than 30. We've never lost. And for each challenge I guess we always go into it with a confidence that we definitely do not expect to lose...and yet equally there is always a huge fear that this one might be the one to end the winning streak. It's a strange combination. You never know whether you'll get a freak pain in the shoulder or put your back out just before the event, or wake up with the flu or anything really. And that's the real challenge of it - to be able to always come to the table to compete and know that no matter how legitimate your excuse is, if you lose...you lose.
I remember as a kid reading the guinness book of records and there was a picture of the famous hurdler Edwin Corley Moses - who had the record for the longest winning streak in major athletic competitions. For some reason that picture and that record always stuck in my mind. In many ways I think of my Dad in similar territory with his winning streak. Of course it's his challenge and it's his method and there are less people specifically training for this event - but on the other side of it, he has almost always taken not just individuals, but teams of people combining their scores. He started doing Challenges after the age of 50! He is now once again at his peak at 61!
anyone wathching the WASPS challenge would not have known that it was actually one of the most daunting and closely fought challenges we've ever done. 15 of Englands biggest strongest fittest guys, all highly competitive and my dad and I not sure if we'd bitten off more than we can chew this time. Honestly. After I'd beaten 7 of the players myself and I had to stop because my grip had gone, I thought that the winning streak was over, and i felt a real low feeling. As my dad stepped up to take on 8more big rugby players I wished i could have done a few more reps to make his job more realistic, and i felt a little sad that after 10 years the whole thing would come to an end here. No matter how unfair the contest (2 vs 15) like always, we expected to win, and needed to win to keep our record alive. and as i watched my Dad slowly taking on number 9, number 10, number 11, number 12 I started to just hope that somehow, anyhow(!) he'd hang in there just a few more reps. And just like on so many occasions...he did. Unbelievable. Probably only had another 10reps left in the tank.... But somehow it was enough. The challenge lives on and the Dragan keeps on puffing away :)