That was the theme chosen thirty-three years ago for the North Queensland Games which were held in Mount Isa during the Easter weekend of 1986.

Attracting approximately 11,500 competitors across 62 sports, the games were, in effect, bigger than the Commonwealth Games held later that year.

As the then mayor of Mount Isa, Tony McGrady said, "For the past two years the Mount Isa community have worked long and hard to ensure that the 1986 North Queensland Games are the success which I believe they will be."

And they were. For the first and possibly only time Mount Isa residents experienced a true traffic jam, preceding the opening ceremony of the games, with vehicles backed up from the Barkly Hotel to the main gates of Kalkadoon Park.

Locals had never seen anything like it and if anything, the traffic jam added to the bustle and excitement of the night. With sixty-two sporting events to be covered during the Easter Weekend, inventiveness became an important aspect of the success of staging the games.

Events were held on various sporting and recreational ovals and parks, within nominated hotels and clubs (darts and eight ball), in Mount Isa Civic Centre (judo), on private properties such as Donovan's Farm (polocrosse), and at the bottom of Lake Mondarra dam wall (water polo).

And where else but Mount Isa would winners proudly stand on cut down 44 gallon drums, albeit they were painted in bright gold and blue (the Games colours), to receive their medals. Sporting fever had gripped Mount Isa.

As these were only the second North Queensland Games to be staged (the inaugural Games were held in Townsville in 1984) there was always a possibility that the commendable idea would run out of puff. And while the athletes may have suffered a little in the extreme heat they never ran out of puff.

Certainly not, Ashley Goldsworthy (GM for Suncorp Building Society, naming sponsors of the Games) as he completed the seven kilometre Fun Run section of the Half Marathon, in a time of 38minutes and 49.42 seconds which earned him a silver medal.

And when the Papua New Guinea Boxing Team unexpectedly arrived at Mount Isa airport the Australian Boxing Federation was not amused. The ABF were eager to KO the PNG Team before common sense prevailed and the Federation allowed the boxers to compete.

And much to the chagrin of their opponents and the Australian Boxing Federation, the PNG Team flew home with four medals, three gold and one bronze.

Competition was fierce at Alec Inch Oval where the local Junior Rugby League team was defeated by both Townsville and Mareeba in the under-11 competitions. Two Mount Isa players, John Bawden and Shane Slater were among the stars of the tournament. While in Squash, the players were not only competing for medallions but also $1000 in prize money.

Gold medals and the prize purse was won by Mount Isa teams in the Women's Division One and Two and in the Men's Division Two and Four.

In Off-Road Racing, local driver Chris Mason, easily won the 4WD section with an aggregate time of 7 hours 6 minutes and 20 seconds.

Driving over a well-laid 5.5km course, which included good high speed straights interspersed with tricky hill sections, he maintained his form over the two days and fully deserved his gold medal.

And despite a lack of coastal representation, the Hockey fixtures produced talent which Chris Shenton, the Colt's under-21 coach said was an ideal opportunity for coaches to gauge the strength of teams before the Zone Championships the following May Day weekend.

Another sport, not fielding a local team, was Bocce which saw teams from Ayr, Ingham, Townsville and Mareeba play in the cool of the mornings and late evenings to avoid the searing heat. Tournament director, Beryl Brubenjak explained the new sport to Mount Isa as having originated in 150BC with the Egyptian Pharaohs.

"And research suggests that Captain James Cook played bocce on board the Endeavour with cannon balls instead of brass balls which would make it the oldest played sport in Australia."

Not a sport to lack competitors, Netball proved one of the most popular sports of the weekend. And as expected the visiting Australian National Netball team played a very high standard of netball with their ball handling skills an inspiration to other players.

Shirley Broun, Mount Isa Netball Association President said, "Some of the girls suffered heat exhaustion and there were a lot of blisters, but otherwise it was a great weekend of top competition".

High daily temperatures the Sports Medicine and first aid teams were kept busy throughout the weekend.

With eighteen first aid stations and seventy volunteers located throughout the city, they treated everything from cuts and bruises to sprained ankles and pulled muscles and the inevitable 'heat exhaustion'.

Local parachutists, Brian Murphy and Brett Harbeck, won the silver and bronze medals respectively behind Australian Parachute team member, Nick Hagarty, from Townsville.

Although skydiving may look graceful it is definitely not an easy sport to contest as the jumper leaves the plane at a height of 2500 feet (762 mts) and must aim for a tiny cube not more than 3 1/2 feet (100cms) across.

As Brian Murphy said, "We're shooting for accuracy all the way down to earth."

Conducted simultaneously alongside the able bodied athletes, the Intellectually Handicapped Services competition was hailed a success. With local lad, George Patterson taking home silver in the 50m sprint.

And just like George, Mount Isa did not run out of puff.

Researched and written by Kim-Maree Burton. Photographs supplied by NQHC and the North West Star. Information sourced from North Queensland Games Foundation, Townsville Bulletin and the North West Star.