Journal notes

I recently spent some time in New York. The plan was to run the NYC Marathon on Sunday 4th November but due to the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Sandy the race, understandably, was cancelled. Throughout the course of the week Manhattan Island slowly began to get itself in order as power returned and the subway returned to something resembling normal service.

I stayed on West 42nd Street which was only a few blocks away from Time Square. That far up town you would never have known about the problems some parts of NYC were experiencing. A couple of blocks near Central were closed due to the storm destroying a tower crane tied to a building under construction described as “a billionaires’ haven”.

The race was cancelled at the very last minute so I couldn’t resist popping along to Central Park to check out the finish line before the organisers began to dismantle it. With so many runners from overseas in town, Central Park was completely packed throughout the week. In fact, around 3,000 runners organised an impromptu race of their own on Sunday 4th December and ran four laps of Central Park which is roughly the length of a marathon.

Despite all the continued challenges faced by the city, NYC did not disappoint and I probably walked a marathon every day to take in some of the beautiful scenery in Brooklyn and Greenwich and East Villages.

I had spent much of the time injured during marathon training so I feel like it may have been for the best. I wish you the best of luck, NYC! X

For me, like a lot of other people, the London Olympics were amazing. I’m a huge fan of sport and to have such a spectacular and varied event taking place on my own doorstep was a dream come true. Along with friends, I went through the ticket ballot process like millions of others and somehow successfully emerged with tickets to eight events. I’ve just returned from two weeks holiday. That was plenty of time to enjoy my events and fill the gaps with the BBC’s excellent Olympic coverage littered across 24 interactive channels.

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