London 2012 blog

You read a lot about the Games in the papers and you could, if you wanted to, form a view and an opinion based entirely on what the media say. However one of the perks of working for LOCOG is that I can, on occasion, get out to other parts of the country and find out for myself what people are thinking, what people are saying and – in many cases – what people are doing to prepare for the Games in their area. And so yesterday I travelled to East Anglia, specifically Newmarket Racecourse, where the East of England region was launching its business plan for the Games – ‘Rising to the Challenge’. 



The Games will provide all sorts of opportunities for businesses, communities and individuals all over the UK. As with most opportunities, they need to be grabbed and for a region and this was a great example of how this is happening everwhere. 

We eased ourselves into the day with a quick T'ai Chi warm up (which may seem slightly odd, but in the context of what followed, actually quite run of the mill) before we got into the nitty gritty of the presentations, where the 'Rising To The Challenge' plan was presented and I also talked about the progress made on the project so far and what was coming up in the next year or so. The region is clearly in a great position – in planning terms, as well as geographical to take advantage of what London 2012 has to offer. 

After meeting many of the delegates representing the counties making up the region, it was time for the requisite media interviews. As children rehearsed behind me for their lunchtime performance, something caught my eye in the corner of the room. Dance mats – simply follow the steps on the big screen on the mats and it logs how accurately you follow them. Maybe it was the dancers, all moving in unison, it could have been the music or perhaps it was the flashing lights, but before I knew it, myself and the reporter from the BBC found ourselves amongst a group from Active Luton desperately trying to follow the footsteps. 



Triple jumping required a fair amount of co-ordination and despite retiring a while ago, I thought I might have retained some, but as the youngsters around me effortlessly followed the steps, I fear my dancing days are also over…