Where on Earth has the rest of the year gone since my last post? Well I guess the initial thought of the London Marathon blog ended in April once I had achieved my goal, but........anyway........Sadly I managed to miss all the good bits of the year by not posting, so maybe a single addition to add now to bring my 2012 to a close will suffice with apologies as this will be a long post to come with so much happening between June and December.
So to the next and final instalment in the 2012 saga.
Once the excitement and build up to the London Marathon had passed I had the Olympics and Paralympics to look forward to. (Well the Paralympics at least).
With a week to go before the London Olympics the press was full of things going wrong and how it was going to be a great big mess. Don't we just love our British Press, always so supportive of everything we do in this country...NOT!!! Well weren't they proved wrong eh?
Anyway, from my own perspective, I was lucky to have been chosen from 250,000 applicants to be one of the 70,000, 2012 volunteers, who helped out at the Olympics and Paralympics to make sure everything ran smoothly, and to coin a phrase "didn't we do well".
The main highlight for me has to be that I was in the Olympic park for the Paralympic closing ceremony right outside the stadium when all the fireworks were set off, having met Dame Kelly Holmes earlier that evening.
And having made loads of friends while there (not just that evening) and since, via various social groups, we still chat about our experiences while all around us yawn and raise their eyes heavenward.
It didn't quite stop there as since then I have managed to gatecrash a celebration of Games Makers in Eastleigh, have been invited to a Christmas Party at Radio Solent and interviewed by Julian Clegg (along with nearly a hundred others) and took part in the New Years Day Parade in London along with thousands of others to celebrate the New Year in with style. And, with a potential volunteer legacy link up with the local council, things could move forward yet again.
Now that's how to have a lot of fun with a GM role expected to only have been for 3 weeks.
So much more to come I feel.
The legacy of the games lives on in that others are finding that volunteering can be fun, and even if not at high profile events, people who put themselves out to help others for no reward other than the satisfaction of having done it are starting to find things they can be involved in.
For many they still seem to be looking for high profile events, for me....well time to get back to the volunteer role I have been doing for the past 7 years, (with the odd high profile application being submitted).
In the meantime my running has gone downhill, (how many times I have wished for a race that does just that). I lost all enthusiasm after the marathon, and in spite of a 2012 beginner group I found myself unable to motivate myself to get back to it properly, though I managed to fit in a Great South 10 mile, with a 2 minutes reduction in overall time compared to the previous year. (Fluke mostly and keeping myself fit with Bokwa -see previous posts for mentions of this and also more to come on that elsewhere)
So yet again it's time to dust off my running shoes and get back out there, my public awaits.....well the new beginner group for 2013 at least.
I guess to be fair this blog should come to an end. I have had fun writing most of it, and sadly neglected it once my London Marathon had been completed, but I guess that is to be expected.
Off to start a new one...... so follow me on my coaching adventures, from newbie to.....er....well we shall see.
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