'What's this?' I hear you say, 'I thought Project Five O finished at the end of 2011'. You're right it did, but the weekend I've just experienced is just begging for a PFO blog entry to be written about it. So think of this as a bit of an encore, possibly just a one-off, possibly not.
If you were a PFO regular during 2011, you may well remember my trip to Japan last October. Well, while I was there I received an email inviting me to apply for a place in the 'National Lottery Olympic Park Run', a five mile race around the Olympic Park in Stratford culminating with a lap around the track inside the Olympic Stadium. I applied, of course, but also emailed the link to Juliet urging her to try for a place too.
The results were out almost as soon as I got back from the far east. Juliet had secured one of the 5000 places in the run; along with 45000 other applicants, I had not. Was I jealous? Of course not! OK then, maybe just a wee bit! My disappointment was partially offset, however, by the news that two spectator passes came with each runner's entry. I would at least have the consolation of having an early opportunity to sample the arena from a spectator's perspective.
And so it came to pass that on Saturday Juliet, Hannah and I set off for Stratford station and joined an excited crowd skirting the outside of Westfield Shopping Centre en route to the Olympic Park. Getting inside involved first joining a lengthy theme park ride style zig zagging queue followed by an airport style x-ray machine and metal detector. If you've got tickets for the real thing in the summer my advice is to get there early. The queuing is a drag, but I'm sure most people will quite happy to put up with it in order to feel completely safe once inside.
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| Inside at last. |
Inside the park it was buzzing. Not everything is fully ready yet but even so it all looks very impressive. Juliet had borrowed my Union Jack headband, which caught the eye of a camera crew who interviewed her on camera - for syndication abroad apparently. The stadium itself is a wonderful arena; the atmosphere during the games should be electric. Legroom is plentiful and sight lines excellent, although from our seats West Ham fans will only get a very distant view of much of the pitch if, as seems likely, the Hammers adopt the stadium after the Olympics.
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| Pre-race interview. |
It was soon time for Juliet to head off for the start line, and the mere spectators amongst us were treated to entertainment from a couple of Saturday night talent show acts, the energetic Flawless and the excellent and foxy classical music girl band Escala. Iwan Thomas and Holly Willoughby orchestrated it all from the stage and on the big screen.
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| Iwan and Holly on the stage. |
Oh and of course we were also treated to an appearance from the two Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville (or is it Manlock and Wendeville?). They were firing tee shirts through a pneumatic tube into the crowd, none of which came in our direction.
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| Wenlock or Mandeville? |
As well as running in the race, Ginger Royal (that's Beatrice by the way - not to be confused with Sporty Spice who also took part) was the official starter.
First to enter the stadium to tumultuous applause was one of the wheelchair athletes, who was clearly loving every minute of his experience.
The first runner, who entered to a similarly enthusiastic reception, was so far ahead of the field that he had crossed the finishing line before the second placed athlete had even entered the stadium. Before long a steady stream of happy runners were completing their glory lap of the track and crossing the line, with the celebrities among them being interviewed and shown on the big screen: Nell McAndrew, Roger Black, Sally Gunnell, Martin 'Moneysavingexpert.com' Lewis and dishy doctor Hilary amongst them. I'm sure if Jimmy Saville was alive, he would have been there too.
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| The Royal Hooter! |
First to enter the stadium to tumultuous applause was one of the wheelchair athletes, who was clearly loving every minute of his experience.
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| Winner of the wheelchair race. |
The first runner, who entered to a similarly enthusiastic reception, was so far ahead of the field that he had crossed the finishing line before the second placed athlete had even entered the stadium. Before long a steady stream of happy runners were completing their glory lap of the track and crossing the line, with the celebrities among them being interviewed and shown on the big screen: Nell McAndrew, Roger Black, Sally Gunnell, Martin 'Moneysavingexpert.com' Lewis and dishy doctor Hilary amongst them. I'm sure if Jimmy Saville was alive, he would have been there too.
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| The leading athlete on two feet. |
We spotted Juliet, pretty much on schedule, after around 50 minutes. She still had enough energy to wave to the crowd, eventually picking out Hannah and I, and crossed the finishing line in an excellent 52:49, all the more impressive due to the painful hamstring injury hampering her progress. As a result of her endeavours I can exclusively reveal that the Olympic track is 'extremely springy', which Juliet very much appreciated after pounding the hard concrete of the Olympic park. What a fantastic experience, a one-off piece of history! Watching it all did make me feel even more strongly that the 2012 Olympic marathon should be finishing in the stadium too, and not along the Mall in central London. OK, Buckingham Palace is impressive in its own right, but in the context of the Olympics, there is nothing more iconic for me than the sight of the race leader finally entering the stadium and hearing the roar of the crowd after twenty six miles of running.
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| A St Albans athlete enters the finishing straight. |
Juliet's good progress enabled me to make a quick dash to the Valley via the Jubilee Line and a black cab in time to watch the second half of Charlton's 2-0 win against Orient. With six games remaining Charlton are now eight points clear of Sheffield Wednesday and edging closer and closer to promotion. However, Charlton never do things the easy way, and there may well be more downs and ups before the end of the season. We should go up but it's getting nervy.
Inspired by my brush with the Olympics, I was really looking forward to my own first race of the year on Sunday morning, the Regent's Park 10K, the first of a series of 6 'Summer' races that take place on the first Sunday of the month from April to September. You may remember me having a go at the July race last year. I've built up my training steadily since January, but the onset of a tickly, raspy throat and the resulting restless night left me feeling a little a bit apprehensive as I stood on the start line on a beautiful but fresh April Fools day. I needn't have worried though, as I put in a very pleasing performance. I even managed an feisty sprint finish, just about holding off the spirited challenge of runner number 6340, a young lady with whom I had been regularly swapping places since the start of the second lap.
The results on the event's website show that I maintained a remarkably steady pace throughout: 21:05 mins for the first lap, 20:41 for the second and 21:10 for the final lap to give me an overall time of 1:01:56. This was over 8 minutes faster than my Regents Park time last July and more than two minutes faster than the best time I achieved during 2011. In fact, it's not so very far off my personal best. I may be a year older, but, for the time being at least, I'm seem to be getting faster! How can I explain my apparent resurgence? I can think of four possible reasons:
1. A more structured and focused training plan - unlike last year when I entered so many different events, I'm mainly working towards two half marathons this year, one in June and another in October. As a result my training has been more consistent, with this particular 10K coming at the perfect stage in my preparation for my first 13 miler.
2. Lent - I've given up chocolate for the duration, and whilst I have still been enjoying the odd glass of wine, I am currently not weighing myself down with Cadbury's Whole Nut.
3. The 'Magic Pants' factor - last November my first pair of magic pants rescued me from injury and enabled me to put in a great performance at the Florence Marathon. Today I was wearing two pairs - over the original pair I wore some full length compression tights, alleged to work against muscle fatigue in the lower as well as upper legs. Well, it seems they did what it said on the tin!
4. The Olympic factor - I can categorically say that I felt athletically inspired by our visit to the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. A little of the magic of the Olympics definitely rubbed off on me.
So, weekend so fabulous that it's brought me out of blog retirement. I have no plans to make regular returns, but you can be sure of one thing - if I do ever achieve any more PBs I'll be back on here like a shot to tell you all about them.
Watch this space!
Inspired by my brush with the Olympics, I was really looking forward to my own first race of the year on Sunday morning, the Regent's Park 10K, the first of a series of 6 'Summer' races that take place on the first Sunday of the month from April to September. You may remember me having a go at the July race last year. I've built up my training steadily since January, but the onset of a tickly, raspy throat and the resulting restless night left me feeling a little a bit apprehensive as I stood on the start line on a beautiful but fresh April Fools day. I needn't have worried though, as I put in a very pleasing performance. I even managed an feisty sprint finish, just about holding off the spirited challenge of runner number 6340, a young lady with whom I had been regularly swapping places since the start of the second lap.
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| The race to the finishing line. |
The results on the event's website show that I maintained a remarkably steady pace throughout: 21:05 mins for the first lap, 20:41 for the second and 21:10 for the final lap to give me an overall time of 1:01:56. This was over 8 minutes faster than my Regents Park time last July and more than two minutes faster than the best time I achieved during 2011. In fact, it's not so very far off my personal best. I may be a year older, but, for the time being at least, I'm seem to be getting faster! How can I explain my apparent resurgence? I can think of four possible reasons:
1. A more structured and focused training plan - unlike last year when I entered so many different events, I'm mainly working towards two half marathons this year, one in June and another in October. As a result my training has been more consistent, with this particular 10K coming at the perfect stage in my preparation for my first 13 miler.
2. Lent - I've given up chocolate for the duration, and whilst I have still been enjoying the odd glass of wine, I am currently not weighing myself down with Cadbury's Whole Nut.
3. The 'Magic Pants' factor - last November my first pair of magic pants rescued me from injury and enabled me to put in a great performance at the Florence Marathon. Today I was wearing two pairs - over the original pair I wore some full length compression tights, alleged to work against muscle fatigue in the lower as well as upper legs. Well, it seems they did what it said on the tin!
4. The Olympic factor - I can categorically say that I felt athletically inspired by our visit to the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. A little of the magic of the Olympics definitely rubbed off on me.
So, weekend so fabulous that it's brought me out of blog retirement. I have no plans to make regular returns, but you can be sure of one thing - if I do ever achieve any more PBs I'll be back on here like a shot to tell you all about them.
Watch this space!
