It’s not often you get a big wave from an Olympian as you start a race. Yesterday morning I did the National Lottery anniversary run – five miles around the Olympic park, finishing in the stadium. It was started by Chris Hoy, who waved genially as we all passed. With 12,000 runners, he must have had RSI by the end.
In truth, it was a bit of an odd race. The Olympic Park – which, we were repeatedly told over the tannoy – is “looking fantastic!” – is clearly mid-conversion to its long term, legacy state. Lots of fences and dust. For security reasons, presumably, the course itself was closed so there wasn’t much atmosphere, despite the best efforts of some lovely marshals yelling encouragement en route. It was also one of the slowest starts I’ve ever done: twisty and turny, the first mile or so was a story of endlessly having to walk around bends or through bottlenecks.
Carping aside, though, I wouldn’t have traded a single moment of it, purely for the truly fantastic experience of the last stretch – and, I confess, the buzz of overtaking another Olympian, as I passed Victoria Pendleton with half a mile or so to go.
As you hit the stadium, and do most of a lap on the inside of the structure, the adrenaline starts flowing, then out onto the track and 300 glorious, bouncy (oh to train on that track!) metres channelling your inner David Rudisha/Usain Bolt/Jessica Ennis/Mo Farah to finish on the line. I beamed my way round that last bit like a total loon. Then, like an even greater loon, ran 10 miles home.
So, what did the weekend bring you? As always, we want to hear your triumphs and travails below the line.
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