It can be great fun taking part in the office Olympics, especially if you are better at the events than your co-workers. We end our five part article with a sport that is based on a non-Olympic event but is engrained in the heartland of the British summertime – water butt cricket.

What are the rules of water butt cricket?

The office divides itself into two teams. Using an empty water butt from the water cooler as a cricket bat and a tightly screwed up document as a ball, the aim of the game is to be the team who scores the most runs.

Before the game starts the teams must decide on a fixed number of overs (6 balls per over) or a number of balls that each team member receives. A run is scored when the buttsman manages to hit the ball (bowled by an opposing team member) against one of the office walls (it’s in the office so no running allowed). The team member is out when they fail to hit the ball. It is important to note that each ball bowled should be able to be hit by the opposing team. Any ball that is too far away from the buttsman will have to be bowled again.

The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

The latest event at the office Olympics is called ‘speed coffee’. And the benefit of this office Olympic event is competitors have a cup of coffee to drink after the event.

The basic essence of the event is that competitors take turns to make a cup of coffee, but there are some provisos:

• The event is timed from the moment the competitor leaves his/her desk to the time they return and sit down.
• The kettle must be empty on starting the event. It needs to be filled by the competitor then boil and switch itself off before the hot water is poured into the mug.
• No coffee must be spilled from the time the competitor leaves the staff kitchen until they reach their desk.
• The mug used must contain a ‘full’ cup of coffee (we have had occasions when competitors have tried to flout the rules and only fill it a little to avoid spillage).

Speed, accuracy and determination, plus the ability not to feel burning pain are the pre-requisites to be a speed coffee champion.

We have already covered chair racing and pen throwing in our five part office Olympics article. Here we will discuss the dangerous art of office chair spinning.

Chair spinning

In this event the participants take turns in sitting in a suitable office chair at one end of the office. Two other entrants then spin the participant around for a pre-decided number of turns – the higher the number the higher the risk. When the chair stops, the participant races against the clock to reach the far end of the office. Much falling over and hence hilarity may ensue, as may projectile vomit. This game is not for the feint of heart.

All the entrants take a turn and the fastest entrant is the winner.

In our first article on office Olympics we featured the chair race. An exciting event that all too often ends in tragedy for the competitors, when the emphasis of the race turns from who wants to win into who wants to create the most devastation.

In part 2 of this article we are going to discuss the noble art of pen throwing.

Pen throwing

In the pen throwing event the participants first choose a suitable pen – preferably not one that leaks easily.

The aim of the event is to stand at one end of the office and try to throw their pen across the room to the far wall. The entrant who gets his or her pen closest to the wall without hitting the wall is the winner.

We know that office Olympics is not a registered sport but with the weather warming up we thought we would give you a list of sports that you can play in the office when you are feeling bored or when your boss has the day off. Part 1 of this five part article is the office chair race.

The Office Chair Race

For this event you need two or more willing employees with rollable office chairs. When the boss is out of the room you need to line up the competitors at one end of the office (the larger the office the better). A non-competing office member acts as a referee, usually the office swot. The competitors have to race to the other end of the office using only their feet as a method of propulsion whilst at the same time making sure that their buttocks are firmly planted to the chair seat.

There are no strict rules during the race but devious tactics are generally frowned upon, however the odd bump into your main rival is not seen as a rule infringement.