… Inside the Triangle of Doom

At BPM, we’ve never been afraid to challenge the status quo. For the past nine years, that mindset has fuelled us to keep getting (good) shit done – not just in the projects we deliver, but in the way we show up for each other and our community.

This year’s celebration was about more than marking nine years in business. It was a reminder that the greatest wealth is health, and when we rally together as a team, we can push limits we didn’t think possible. Surrounded by whānau, friends, and our crew, we came together to prove that teamwork makes the dream work, especially when you’re trapped in a gym together cycling, skiing and rowing for 9 straight hours…

We didn’t even need to use the de-fib, though we had two marked down (along with the hospital) in Lil Pistol’s H&S plan, just in case. We’re not saying we definitively had someone in mind here, but if you guessed we were worried about Colin you would be correct. Probably not as concerned as Colin was about himself, though. And certainly not as concerned for Colin as we were, once we heard he was so tired, he put Deep Heat on his toothbrush instead of Colgate after the event. True story. Just ask him!

It was quite the day.

By doing hard things, we can do hard things.

Dan always says this. Sometimes we smile and nod, other times we recoil in fear – because often it comes before he’s announced a new physical challenge. This year though, DB managed to stealthily avoid being the one held accountable for what was to befall us – as this particular event, aptly nicknamed the Triangle of Doom - was swiftly rebranded as Jenn’s Triangle of Doom. Or, JTD.

Cheers guys. (Hi, it’s me, Jenn.)

From the team meeting where we announced it, right up until the day, there was trepidation and concern. Would nine solid hours of rotating through three machines in two teams be as doomy as it sounded? Would we ache? Would we be able to keep going? Would Colin need de-fibbed? There were a lot of questions.

When it came down to it though, we did it. We swallowed our fear (plus a lot of snacks) and just got on with it.

We not only got on with it, but dare I say, had a good time?

Parts of us did, anyway. Maybe not our ears at points – because literally have you ever heard Mason perform breathy Lewis Capaldi (directly into a sound system), whilst he’s furiously pedalling away on an exercise bike 4 hours into the longest day of your life?

You might want to lower the volume on your headset before hitting play…

We joke, of course. Mason, You have the voice of an angel. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus… (to quote Step Brothers). 👀

Spirits were surprisingly high. The whole day had a very community-driven vibe. Loads of you came down to support us and some of you even joined in. Camaraderie was at its peak. The energy drinks were flowing. DB was enthusiastically throwing himself full force into the challenge and throwing small children out of his way between machines like a man possessed. It was a good time.

You’ve heard of The Murph - this is THE CLAW

Some of us came into the Triangle of Doom ready for anything. Some of us came in with a claw where our functional hand used to be. Kelly, queen of doing hard things (please see her picture next to the words wall and balls in the dictionary, sub categorised under Hyrox) – had injured herself the week before at a netball tournament (which she won!). But - she still showed up and gave it everything. That – at the end of the day, is who we are. We don’t let silly things like fear, age or claws for hands get in the way of a good challenge in this place… that’s just some spicy seasoning. *chef’s kiss*

We’re already joking how far we can push it for 10 years…

Resetting limits

If there’s one thing we can take away from this… it’s that it’s never as bad as you think, and everyone was so proud of themselves when that buzzer signified the end of our final round.

That’s why we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, challenging the status quo… and test ourselves with things like maths at the end of a gruelling day of physical and mental exertion.

It’s worth noting that on each of the machines, there was a threshold of how much number crunching it could handle…

The bike reset every time we hit 100k meters, the ski and the rower reset every time we hit 50k meters.

In 9 hours – 12 of us (plus a few ‘mulligans’) did 60 rounds each (61 if you’re DB because he’s always going to be one up!) of 4.5 minutes (90 seconds on each machine) – covering, in total 848,987m or, 849km.

That, dear Reader – is the same as skiing, rowing and biking from Wellington to Kaitaia / the length of New Zealand’s South Island (about 840 km from top to bottom), or running 20 marathons in a row!

From pain to purpose - supporting MHFNZ

The questionable decision to tackle nine hours in the Triangle of Doom wasn’t just a test for our team, it was a testament (see what I did there) to our values system as a whole. Well-being is a core part of BPM and giving back in meaningful ways that align with our values system is part of our kaupapa.

This challenge allowed us to raise money for a cause that’s close to our hearts - the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. All in all our efforts saw us raise $1459 (as of writing this) to help fund critical services in our community.

That alone made listening to Mason’s singing all of the build up, the trepidation and sore muscles more than worthwhile. On top of that, we got to come together as a team and do that hard thing, proving yet again we can do hard things.

Bulley wasn’t looking forward to it at all. But by the end, we clocked he’d burned over 4000 calories and when he converted that into how many beers he could essentially have with zero trips to the gym over the next month, he was delighted.

We all found our silver lining. Or in Bulley’s case, a delicious cold foamy lining at the top of a pint glass... Can you blame him?

Accompanying that cold one at the end of the day, was a team dinner at El Turko’s.

The youngest of us is 22, the oldest is 65. And every single one of us knocked it out the park.

Speaking to what this kind of event means for Dan personally and for BPM as a whole, he says:

A question I get asked a lot when we do these events is what motivates them. And understandably so, because the difference between something being painful or powerful is the decision to do it.
When I hear people say they couldn’t or wouldn’t do it, I smile because I know post-event my team and I will have grown just that little bit more than them. By taking on a hard thing and succeeding, means future us can do more hard things, both at work and in life.
You don’t need motivation to take action, action will give motivation - you just have to start and this challenge was the epitome of that. Looking at the task at hand it put everyone in the zone of uncomfort, but we got started and as time went by I saw each person realise it wasn’t as scary as they thought, and come the end seeing the team embrace and beam with pride with mission complete - I stood back and have never been prouder during this 9 year journey.
It’s a moment I (we?) will never forget.

We’ll keep you posted about whatever challenge we set ourselves next via our socials. All we know is for now this is going down as solid BPM lore.

Teamwork makes the dream work. *mic drop*