Prelude

One of the things I've got much better at, as I've got older, is enjoying the build-up to an event as much as the event itself. I've been looking forward to these London Olympics ever since we knew we had won the bid in 2005. And finally, last Friday, we were on our way!

This is the walk to the Olympic Park from Stratford station. Most people were heading in the same direction at that time in the morning but, even so, the way it was all organised was impressive. There were literally thousands of volunteers - some even had their own 'umpire's chairs' to give them an overview of the flow of foot traffic.

Everyone - volunteers and spectators alike - seemed in such good spirits. And as we got nearer and nearer I had butterflies in my tummy such as I haven't felt since I was a kid waiting for Christmas! Those threatening rainclouds gave us a good soaking a bit later on but I didn't even mind that.

The predominant purple and pink 'branding' was a bit of a shocker - but after a while I began to realise that it was probably chosen to stand out from the national teams' colours.  Not many countries have pink flags!