We are now into day five of seventy. The Olympic torch touched down near Helston in Cornwall on Friday evening accompanied by Princess Anne, Lord Coe and David Beckham amongst others. On Saturday morning it started its way through much of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (and to Dublin in Ireland for a day).
This afternoon it reached Swindon where Didier Drogba completed quite a week in his life which started with the equalising goal and winning penalty for Chelsea in the Champions League Final in Munich on Saturday. On Sunday he was in London on top of an open topped double decker bus as thousands of Chelsea fans poured onto the streets to see their victorious side joined with the cup itself for everybody to see. On Tuesday he announced that he would be leaving Chelsea after 8 years with the club and today stated it is his intention to not play against them and therefore will be applying his skills in pastures new probably far, far away. Today he had the honour of running a leg of the Olympic Torch relay through the streets of Swindon not because of his recent successes on the pitch - no. He was selected for all the charity work that he has been doing including setting up foundations for children back in his home country of the Ivory Coast. That last sentence needs to be made perfectly clear before anybody gets the wrong idea and thinks this is just more glory-hunting.
This afternoon it reached Swindon where Didier Drogba completed quite a week in his life which started with the equalising goal and winning penalty for Chelsea in the Champions League Final in Munich on Saturday. On Sunday he was in London on top of an open topped double decker bus as thousands of Chelsea fans poured onto the streets to see their victorious side joined with the cup itself for everybody to see. On Tuesday he announced that he would be leaving Chelsea after 8 years with the club and today stated it is his intention to not play against them and therefore will be applying his skills in pastures new probably far, far away. Today he had the honour of running a leg of the Olympic Torch relay through the streets of Swindon not because of his recent successes on the pitch - no. He was selected for all the charity work that he has been doing including setting up foundations for children back in his home country of the Ivory Coast. That last sentence needs to be made perfectly clear before anybody gets the wrong idea and thinks this is just more glory-hunting.
 (Above - Fireworks explode as the torch relay heads over the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol). |
When I first heard the statistics behind this event I could not quite work it out. 8,000 miles over 70 days - it is only 850 miles from Lands End to John O'Groats!
I know they are not by a long way going the quickest way from these two opposite peaks and the route is going here, there and everywhere across the country but to manage to cover 8,000 miles is the equivalent of going from Lands End to John O'Groats back and forth 9 and a half times.
But then another calculation hit me and made me realise that perhaps they really are travelling this far. 8,000 miles divided by 70 days equals approximately 114 miles a day - suddenly it is sounding that in fact the figures are correct - it just seems incredible. The other thing that I did not realise was (maybe I am alone in this, maybe I am not) that I thought that all of this distance would be run by one of the 8,000 runners. That is far from the truth as we are already seeing from the video being relayed online from the BBC live stream of the relay. The convoy is swiftly moving to its next point with a bunch of police motorcyclists clearing the route ahead before the convoy again stops at the edge of the next village, town or city where they are once again are greeted by large crowds and the next relay runner. If the 8,000 miles was being covered by these 8,000 runners then they would all be covering one mile each of the course. I have already seen runners covering very small distances as our torch bearers are a complete variety of different ages and physical condition. Today in Swindon for example there was a guy with only one leg that bravely carried the torch and I have also seen people in wheelchairs etc.
I know they are not by a long way going the quickest way from these two opposite peaks and the route is going here, there and everywhere across the country but to manage to cover 8,000 miles is the equivalent of going from Lands End to John O'Groats back and forth 9 and a half times.
But then another calculation hit me and made me realise that perhaps they really are travelling this far. 8,000 miles divided by 70 days equals approximately 114 miles a day - suddenly it is sounding that in fact the figures are correct - it just seems incredible. The other thing that I did not realise was (maybe I am alone in this, maybe I am not) that I thought that all of this distance would be run by one of the 8,000 runners. That is far from the truth as we are already seeing from the video being relayed online from the BBC live stream of the relay. The convoy is swiftly moving to its next point with a bunch of police motorcyclists clearing the route ahead before the convoy again stops at the edge of the next village, town or city where they are once again are greeted by large crowds and the next relay runner. If the 8,000 miles was being covered by these 8,000 runners then they would all be covering one mile each of the course. I have already seen runners covering very small distances as our torch bearers are a complete variety of different ages and physical condition. Today in Swindon for example there was a guy with only one leg that bravely carried the torch and I have also seen people in wheelchairs etc.
There were some people that thought that people would soon get bored of this relay. Far from it - in fact if anything the crowds appear to be getting larger and larger as we go from town to town.
To be fair though, the torch landed in Britain just as the weather finally broke its extended winter through spring and we are finally get a taste of summer to go along with the early days before the main event of the Olympics.
I am finding the coverage on the BBC live stream strangely appealing. There is no commentary, all there is audio of the cheering crowds and the noise of the vehicle engines as they fly between places along England's roads. There have already been times where I have seen places that I have recognised or even thought I have drove down that road!
The interactive map can be zoomed in and a street by street map is also available so you can see precisely how the near they are going to you. I have noticed the timetable in the mornings has been difficult to keep to but they have made it up after the lunch break. If you are waiting and wondering where they have got to the web site has just introduced an Android App so that people can monitor the torch as they stand and wait for it. It is also due to appear as an Apple App in the next day or two.
There is just something I find very appealing in watching the live stream. Especially with the sun shining and the time of the year that it is right now we are seeing England in much of its beautiful glory. Seeing hundreds of school children lined up alongside the road too will provide many a moment when those kids look back in years to come and remember where they were when they saw the torch go by.
The BBC live stream for the Olympic Torch relay is linked to right here.
To be fair though, the torch landed in Britain just as the weather finally broke its extended winter through spring and we are finally get a taste of summer to go along with the early days before the main event of the Olympics.
I am finding the coverage on the BBC live stream strangely appealing. There is no commentary, all there is audio of the cheering crowds and the noise of the vehicle engines as they fly between places along England's roads. There have already been times where I have seen places that I have recognised or even thought I have drove down that road!
The interactive map can be zoomed in and a street by street map is also available so you can see precisely how the near they are going to you. I have noticed the timetable in the mornings has been difficult to keep to but they have made it up after the lunch break. If you are waiting and wondering where they have got to the web site has just introduced an Android App so that people can monitor the torch as they stand and wait for it. It is also due to appear as an Apple App in the next day or two.
There is just something I find very appealing in watching the live stream. Especially with the sun shining and the time of the year that it is right now we are seeing England in much of its beautiful glory. Seeing hundreds of school children lined up alongside the road too will provide many a moment when those kids look back in years to come and remember where they were when they saw the torch go by.
The BBC live stream for the Olympic Torch relay is linked to right here.
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