Nissan, Volkswagen and Alfa Romeo. The cars were then carefully arranged in almost regimental fashion and polished and shined up to perfection. Upon closer inspection (and admiration) of the cars I noticed that the BMW cars all sported a cardboard Olympic Torch (an official one) and a sign that promoted the arrival of the Torch at the Eastern Motor Company in Edinburgh on Saturday the 9th of June, where visitors would be able to get their pictures with the Torch and autographs from various athletes as well. The blurb on the other side of these advertisements read that the Torch would provide "History within Reach". Without sounding brainwashed from corporate advertising, I happen to think this slogan just about sums up what the Torch Relay might provide for local communities, but also the reasons why people might find it a little limited. The Torch Relay is making history, a once in a lifetime opportunity for people to see the Torch pass through the very streets, villages, shops and offices where they live and work on a daily basis. A chance to stand on the same pavements they stand every day of their lives to see the historic torch pass through, carried by someone specially selected to represent their area. But history within reach also suggests that it is just that: reachable, but not touchable. So we can go out and stand behind our gates and be kept back by authorities and we can watch the Torch pass us by, we can take pictures of it and remember it forever through the lens of a camera, but a quick glimpse is really about all we will ever get to reaching it. We can reach but we can't touch. Unless of course we were lucky enough to carry it. Or rich enough to buy it on Ebay! 
I also randomly got to see the limited edition London 2012 Mini, which on first inspection I thought was a really sweet and subtle nod to the year of the Union Jack. The car is a gorgeous Royal blue, with a red, white and blue strip down the front left hand side of the bonnet, the interior is leather with a red, white and blue strip around the head rests, and the most stunning part of all is the London skyline on the front of the glove compartment. What better symbol of London than the Mini? And here's a specially made London edition of the Mini, it can't get much more London than that! And then I saw that it was only £49 for a deposit on the car. So here's a specially designed limited edition Mini and it is a little bit cheaper than all the rest! Then I saw the roof top of the car. And emblazoned on the top is a huge London 2012 official Olympic symbol and suddenly the cheaper car begins to make sense.
It seems to me that if you ever wanted a physical answer to the question of how big and lasting an impact will the London Olympic games have on Great Britain, then here it is. How long, really, would you want to drive about in a car with a huge Olympic logo on the top? It was a really sweet car until I saw the logo. I'm not against the logo, I don't have issues with it, but this car looked like it belonged on the road, driving behind the Relay, a sponsored car for this special event, not something you would ever want to own, nor be able to drive on the roads without a little bit of embarassment. It would probably last the two weeks the Games are on and then you would want to either sell it or hide it in your garage in the hope that it might be worth something more some day. Unless of course you could get the logo removed and it would be a really cool London Mini, but then that might just defeat the point of it being an official Olympic car...
My mum and I then went about setting up our stall (what I was actually there to do), talking to the visitors, chatting about the motor show. Some time passed and then my dad notifies me that there will be a Team GB althlete making her way to the motor show shortly. And I can't really believe my luck! Here I am randomly at an event that I didn't expect to have much connection with the Olympics and I am inundated with Olympic references and now I might just get the chance to speak to an athlete! I thought this would be great material for the #CitizenRelay project.
One of the organisers of the event, a lovely lady called Fiona, even introduces me to Lynsey Sharp, Team GB middle distance runner, and I pluck up the courage to ask if she wouldn't mind doing a quick interview with me. So I spend five or so minutes thinking up some questions then we go and have a chat about her involvment in the Torch Relay, the pressures of the Games being on home turf, the lasting impact of the games and if it encourages fitness and better sport facilities for the people of Scotland.
Lynsey was very lovely to talk to and extremely helpful with her answers, and I can only wish her all the best of luck for the future! If you would like to know a little bit more information about her then you should check out this website http://www.inthewinningzone.com/wz/Magazine/September-2008---Paralympic-Special/Committed-to-Excellence/349/
Lynsey has shown extremely inspirational dedication to her sport, and there is no better example of this than the fact that she has been training in an old railway tunnel in Edinburgh because, as she says in her interview with the Daily Record:
“I hate running on the treadmill and didn’t want to risk injury on the icy pavements.
“My mum remembered an old railway tunnel near Edinburgh’s Commonwealth swimming pool from her training days and we went to see if it was still there.
“It was, and it has been my alternative racing track since. It’s dark, dingy and smelly, but it’s nearly 700m long and protects me from all types of weather.”
(http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2012/01/01/scots-sprinter-goes-underground-to-chase-her-olympic-dream-86908-23672476/)
What better legacy then could the London 2012 games leave than to have the opportunity to provide better training facilities for up and coming athletes like Lynsey to perform to their full potential without having to train in this environment. Although this kind of environment proves that Lynsey is tough and dedicated to her sport, perhaps the London Games and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 will help to provide facilities at a more professional level for athletes who aim high toward their Olympic dream. As Lynsey mentions in our interview, there have already been examples of this with the completion of the reopening of an athletics pool in Glasgow in time for the Commonwealth Games. And perhaps this Olympic pool will allow new generations of athletes to train in much better facilities and perhaps even perform even better in future professional games. This is something that is very much a promotional tool for the London 2012 games, with much of the building work for the London games claiming to be "with legacy in mind" http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2012/01/01/scots-sprinter-goes-underground-to-chase-her-olympic-dream-86908-23672476/. This is all fantastic to imagine but the age-old saying "only time will tell" is extremely applicable here, and will be something interesting to watch unfold (and possibly even report on in the future!).
What a random day it was for me, I didn't expect to get any #CitizenRelay content at all but there I was with an interview with an athlete and lots of photographs to take with me! It also makes me really glad to have undertaken this project because it just goes to show that you can report from anywhere, at any time, using such little equipment as a pen and paper and a decent smart phone! You don't have to have the full package of fancy cameras and recording equipment, and you don't need to have a connection with a big media organisation like the BBC to be able to talk to people and report on your findings. If you would like to follow more community relay stories then follow #CitizenRelay on Twitter for up to the minute stories and photographs of the Relay!
Love this :)
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