GORDON LIGHTFOOT | Local news
“But he’s not even hungover!”
On Sunday morning Whakataki local Ben Fenton, 28, purchased and consumed a 750mL “Mountain-blast” flavoured Powerade, not because he was viciously hungover from the night before, but because his body was craving electrolytes after a bout of strenuous exercise.
Blue powerade has long been known to cure hangovers, but until now we have not been able to find any documented accounts of it being consumed as a sports drink. Fenton has achieved what many believe is a first for New Zealand – and he was as surprised as anyone.
“Dunno what came over me, I just felt like a powerade after my run. I didn’t even have a massive night last night!
“To be honest I ended up staying home with the missus, watched a boring romantic comedy. The boys were trying to get me out but I said I had no money this week… which was a bit of a lie but, sometimes you just can’t be fucked, y’know?”
Mark Chan, 51, the owner of the Blue Moon Dairy where Fenton purchased the drink, said that he’d never seen anything like it. “You can see blue powerade drinkers coming from a mile off. They’re always slow-moving, bleary-eyed.. often wearing their town clothes from the night before. Their hangovers are very visible.
“But this guy comes along in his running gear, still sweating from exercise. And you could tell he was feeling a general sense of achievement. Really confusing to see him marching up to the counter with a blue Powerade in hand”.
23-year-old JJ Campbell, one of Chan’s regular Sunday blue Powerade customers, described how he uses the popular drink. “It just wakes you up a bit, gets rid of the dry mouth for a while, and generally eases the deep feeling of regret.
“Dunno why you would bother if you didn’t have a life-threatening hangover, but each to their own I guess”.
The Whakataki Times will continue its investigation into whether Ben Fenton has indeed achieved a first for New Zealand. More to come.
