London 2012 blog

Sunday dawned with a distant alarm clock going off at a disturbingly early hour for a day off. A day off? I was about to attempt to run the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon, so hardly a day off. I have run the marathon in London twice before, but this was the first time for six years and last time I had no pretensions at running a good time as I was dressed as a dog (a sacrifice made to raise money for a dog charity). This time was different...

Me, in the green:



Following the obligatory porridge, strong caffeine and energy drink, I set off for the station where you were immediately aware of the number of Sunday morning commuters all heading for Blackheath. 35,000 of us in fact, plus lots of friends and family. It was a beautiful morning and as soon as you heard the BBC music as you approached the start, the excitement really began to build. Spotting the fancy dress costumes with exclamations of, ‘how on earth are they going to run a mile let alone 26 dressed like that?’ is a tried and tested way of settling the nerves. Of all the costumes, the stilt walker, the Royal Marine on skis with his toboggan and the Masai Warriors stood out. Of equal note are the people wearing shirts denoting them as marathon junkies – '35 marathons in the last 22 days' was the most ridiculous I saw.

Read more of “Moved to tears at the Marathon”

I was one of LOCOG's volunteers for Sunday's Torch relay and will take away three personal memories the day:

The first was the outstanding enthusiasm and professionalism interspersed with several touches of often masochistic humour that I saw throughout from the hotel staff, the drivers, the LOCOG volunteers, the police and young people assisting in the relay organisation. Despite some challenges, I was (especially) proud to be working on this project yesterday with so many people who are all striving for the same objective.

The second was the down-to-earth warmth and good nature of the collection of celebrities, Olympians and other recognised relay runners. I am sure there were a few primadoonas out there, but I saw none of that yesterday and the likes of Tim Henman, Denise Van Outen and Sir Trevor MacDonald helped make several people’s day by endlessly taking part in photographs and signing autographs as well as helping to encourage those who were nervous or apprehensive about their run.

Especially, though, I will recall the excitement and enthusiasm of the other runners about running with the Olympic Torch. This collection of competition winners and those chosen for their bravery or achievements were all truly inspiring, but Brian Thomson from Glasgow will stand out for me. Brian fell off a balcony aged five and spent the next few weeks in a coma (his heart stopped twice), but he has since recovered well enough to take part in the last two Special Olympics winning three medals for judo.

He was in London yesterday with his whole family supporting him and they surprised him by revealing t-shirts with his photo and the message “Brian, our eternal flame” on the back. As they left the hotel to go out onto the streets to take part in and support the relay, I hoped he could treasure the unique moment properly.

More beautiful weather in the East End. So what better way to enjoy the evening than by visiting one of the 2012 indoor venues? But this one is rather special: the completely renovated and rejuvenated Dome.

And we even had a project alum giving us the tour in the shape of our former Director of Marketing and Sponsorship, now Chief Exec of the Dome, Phil Beard.

Now I’m sure there are lots of people out there who would love to work on the 2012 Games and very few who would relinquish that opportunity should it arise. So why would someone leave?

I can’t help feeling Phil might have several answers to this: “to put on Bon Jovi’s first indoor performance in 17 years”; “to put on the biggest female recording artist of all time, Barbara Streisand”; “to put on perhaps the last tour ever by the Rolling Stones”; or, to use some sporting themes, “to put on the first regular season NHL and NBA games in the UK”; “to put on Britain’s brightest boxing sensation and Olympic medallist, Amir Khan”; or some other cultural themes, “to put on the first Tutankhamun exhibition in London since 1972”.

I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s going to be unlike anything we’ve seen before in the UK.

Read more of “A sneak preview...”