Lichfield with a Dash of Torch

The Olympic Torch started by landing in Cornwall then made its way north, south, east and west, meandering its way around the United Kingdom before finally heading south towards London.

Saturday 30th June 2012 saw the Olympic Torch in Lichfield where a whole day of events had been laid on to mark the occasion.

This part of the leg started in Derby then headed to Burton-upon-Trent (where they make Marmite) making a stop at the National Memorial Arboretum where it started the Armed Forces Day event, then from there it headed into Lichfield…

We’re off to see the Torch

The weather reports were not looking good and many roads were going to be blocked from 8:30 onwards so we had to get a move on.

The weather was in fact better than forecast and can be summed up by this picture…..sunshine and showers.



We joined the stream of people heading into the centre of the city and saw that many people were already
gathering at various places along the route to catch a glimpse of the torch as it passed.

 

Perched and Waiting

We perched ourselves up some steps on the side of the pavement and waited patiently for the show to begin.

Later that day there would be The Lichfield Dash where brave runners would try to run around the cathedral before the midday bells had finished chiming. Providing a little celebrity for the event was none other than Roger Black who for some strange reason seems to be surrendering.




The people gathered, the sun shone and classic cars from the Cars in the Park event provided a drive-by warm-up.




Now the torch convoy kicked into gear. Lots of police on motorcycles followed by support cars and buses then the various sponsor’s buses.



Then the “grey runners” appeared bringing fun and frivolity?



And finally, the event we had been waiting for, the Olympic Torch (blink and you will miss it)!

The Olympic Torch

The excitement over in the blink of an eye and the crowds depart.

Up the road and down the road. It was a good turnout.


The atmosphere was great and the crowds, officials and police were all polite and friendly. Everyone was having fun.

A very pleasant experience, I am glad we went.

 

But Wait, There is More!

As mentioned earlier, a whole day of events lay ahead….of which I attended only one….The Lichfield Dash.

Set in the shadow of Lichfield Cathedral…



The idea was to run around the perimeter of Lichfield Cathedral (about 430m) within the time it takes for the bells to chime midday (about 58 seconds). Not something for the faint hearted.

Clearly this event was going to take place at midday, but up to that time they were holding various races around the course for all ages. Alongside this they had other entertainments including singing and dancing.

I will cut to chase as it were (pun intended) and describe just two of the events.

Man vs. Bike

Each year they pit a runner against a cyclist. Not entirely fair, so they give the runner a 30 second head start.

It appears for the last two years the cyclist has won.

So was this year going to be different?

Man vs. Bike

Sooooo close!! May be next year.

The Dash

Only four brave souls entered this year….

On your marks!

 

Get set!

 

Go!!!

A couple of them even beat the chimes…

The Lichfield Dash

And to the winner go the spoils…presented by, you guessed it, Roger Black.



With that, I went home.