365 Sporting Days

Having booked tickets to see George Benson (yes he is still alive) perform at an open air concert in Greenwich it seemed rude not to buy tickets for the Anniversary Games.

A chance to see the Olympic Stadium and some sport at the same time was too good to miss! I had the company of my good friend Monica so at the very least I knew there’d be laughter galore.

For some stupid reason I decided to drive – oh and take notice of my SatNav, which seemed to be suffering some sort of meltdown!  We arrived as the Long Jump was starting.

The stadium is a hugely impressive structure, as good as it looks on the TV.  If you are a huge fan of athletics events you may just want to look at the photos at this point.

I’m not going to write loads about the events, I enjoyed the afternoon, but I’m not too sure I’ll be rushing back in a hurry.

I’m not quite sure what I made of the day and what I’m about to say next may sound very odd – I found it very confusing that several events were going on at the same time – and yet it felt as if not a lot was going on.

I did thoroughly enjoy the various races – there were several highlights.  Dina Asher-Smith became the first British Female to run the 100m in under 11 seconds – winning her heat in 10.99 seconds; a new record therefore.  At 19 years old she clearly is a very bright prospect.

Shara Proctor broke the GB record in winning the Long Jump – There was a good atmosphere with lots if crowd involvement yet it had to keep stopping when a race happened.  That was the same for all the field events.  The Pole Vault, Shot Put and Javelin got next to no attention.

The women’s 5000m race was a sight to behold after Molly Huddle kept up with the pacemaker and broke away from the field.  The whole crowd was willing her on, but she was literally pipped at the post by Mercy Cherono – Huddle’s tactics didn’t quite see her home.

It was great to see Greg Rutherford and Jessica Ennis Hill in action and great to experience the stadium – I’ve registered an interest in a West Ham season ticket as a result.

It’s clear that the stadium and the Olympics have left a legacy of regeneration for the area of Stratford.  Another real legacy for the country are the volunteers, that whole ethos has spread across sport.  I’m certain the volunteers lives are enhanced and as a sport goer I certainly find them to be happy and helpful almost without fail.

A quick mention of the evening, albeit music.  Our bags weren’t searched when we went into the venue, which was a bit of a shock considering the surroundings of the Royal Naval College.  It was a magical venue and George was pretty good if a bit pub singer at times.

As expected Monica and I laughed our socks off at times during the day – a good day all round!

• Cost of Ticket      – £35.00
• Ladies toilets – there were loads of them!!   A real positive!
• Food choice was poor and unhealthy quite a disappointment