I’m lucky enough to live and run in one of the world’s best cities, and this summer athletes from across the world will be playing in my backyard. We’re preparing to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games and every day something else is going on as London gets itself ready to play host.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I listened on the radio while at work to the announcement, but the idea that you’d listen on a radio rather than watch livestreaming on the internet shows how long ago it was. We were pretty sure that Paris was going to be awarded the 2012 Olympics – and so were the French. A long and bumpy road since that and we’re almost ready.

The trash talk is starting early with athletes treated to a view of this before they’ve even touched down at Heathrow. The Union Flag has been hanging down The Mall for a while now, as much a celebration of the Jubilee as anything else. It’s pretty much on that spot where my bike is where the winner of the 2012 women’s and men’s Olympic marathon will be decided.

Controversially the Olympic marathon won’t be finishing in the Olympic stadium. But then London has a long history of meddling with Olympic finishes – did you know that it’s as much us as the Greeks that are responsible for the standard distance being 26 miles and 385 yards? true story.

The Olympic marathon route passes a lot of London landmarks but, unlike the London Marathon, it doesn’t cross the bridge pictured above. A lot of non UK residents read my blog and if you learn one thing from it I’d like it to be this: this is Tower Bridge, not London Bridge. So if you’re coming to see the Olympics this summer and you ask a friendly local for directions to ‘London Bridge’, you will end up about a mile down the river from here.


I walk over this bridge every morning to get to work. Usually there’s lots of tourists taking pictures on it and a lot of commuters trying to avoid getting in those pictures. This week though tourists and commuters have united to take pictures of the Olympic rings which have been installed on it. So it might take us all an extra three days to get to work in the morning. Who cares? Olympic fever is gripping London – come join us, but remember – this is our hometurf.