And despite the grey skies overhead, they revelled in it.

More than 40,000 entered the ballot for places on the five-mile route which took them around many of the soon-to-be iconic venues of London 2012.

The lucky relative few – this was, after all, a Lottery event – meandered around the Basketball Arena, the Velodrome, the Water Polo Arena, the Aquatics Centre and the Orbit Observation Tower before entering the Olympic Stadium under the approving gaze of their family and friends, with two representatives allowed per runner.

The field had its quota of sporting figures and celebrities, including Alec Stewart the cricketer, champion javelin throwers Fatima Whitbread and Steve Backley, athlete Roger Black, Paralympian Danny Crates, model Katie Price and her son Harvey.

There were rumours that London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton had also put on his running shoes to good effect.

The event was set in motion by Princess Beatrice (bottom image, right), a previous London Marathon runner, who then turned herself into a runner before heading for the podium, where she was scheduled to do the honours with the medals.

Somewhere in the mass of red shirts was teacher Rob Green, who had dropped from 18 to 12 stone in the course of training for what was his first competitive run.


Such stories justify the phrase on the back of every Olympic Park run shirt: Life Changing.

Tommy Davies, a 26-year-old from Loughborough, was the first runner across the Olympic finish line in a time of 25min 11 sec, faster than the current Olympic record of 25:11.2 set by Emil Voigt at the 1908 Olympics in London, which was the last time the distance of five miles was run at the Olympic Games.

"It was fantastic," he said after crossing the line before the next runner entered the stadium.

"I am so overwhelmed by all this attention.

"It's such a great opportunity to have been able to take part.

"The Park looks fantastic and I'll feel great watching the Games knowing I've crossed that line first today."

First to cross the line on the day, however, was Stuart Bloor, from Crewe, the winner of the wheelchair race.


Nell McAndrew (pictured below at the start line in pink) was the first female across the line in 29:21 – almost a minute faster than her target as she prepares for the Virgin London Marathon, where she hopes to lower her current personal best of 3hours 8min to three hours.

"It's been a fantastic day," she said. 

"When I came in to the Stadium I thought I might be the first woman, so I just didn't look over my shoulder.

"I just wanted to keep running and get to the line first.

"It's a brilliant experience to run inside the Olympic Stadium, it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"I was swept up in the atmosphere when I came into the Stadium.

"I was almost in tears.

"My mum, Nancy, who was diagnosed recently with diabetes, is running and aiming to finish in one hour so I am am off to support her."

Both winners were presented with their medals by Princess Beatrice and Dianne Thompson (pictured below, second image down, right), group chief executive of National Lottery operator Camelot which organised the event.


Thompson said: "The regeneration of the Olympic Park, the building of the iconic venues and the legacy they will leave long after the Games have only been made possible by the outstanding contribution of National Lottery players.

"Whether they're coming to the Games or watching at home, they should feel proud that none of it would have been possible without them."

Gail Emms, Olympic silver medallist in badminton at Athens 2004, was one of a number of ex-athletes invited to run inside the Olympic Park.

She said: "It's fantastic to be running inside the Olympic Park and crossing the finish line inside the Olympic Stadium.

"The Olympic Park is looking superb now and it really brings it home to you how close the Games are.

"This has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the thousands of members of the public to run here, even before the elite athletes!"

Former Paralympic champion Crates (pictured below, left) added: "The National Lottery Olympic Park Run has been brilliant and I'm honoured and delighted to be a part of it.

"Like so many other Olympic and Paralympic athletes,

"The National Lottery helped me reach my potential and I'm incredibly grateful for that.

"The 5,000 members of the public in the run have been given a taste of just what it will be like for the athletes when it comes to Games time."


While the 5,000 runners tackled the Olympic Park course, around 12,000 family and friends got their first glimpse of the Olympic Stadium track as they were entertained by dance troupe Flawless and electronic string quartet Escala amongst others, and hosted by TV presenter Holly Willoughby (pictured below, centre) and GB sprinter Iwan Thomas.

Brendan Foster, whose company, Nova, runs numerous mass participation events including the Bupa Great North Run, was looking forward to the day's activities as he made his way up the main drag to the Stadium, pausing to have his picture taken by a series of quietly thrilled runners of a certain age.

In an ideal world, Foster would have liked to have seen more like 20,000 taking part, but given the logistics of dealing with the accompanying crowd in the stadium he accepted that was not going to be a goer on this occasion.

Before the event, the London 2012 marshalling and security screening operation got its own first serious work out as hordes of family groups made their way to the stadium approach from Stratford station, guided through Westfield Stratford City by attendants with giant, foam pointing hands.


As the queues snaked their way towards the canopied security checkpoints it was possible to sense what the Olympics proper would feel like.

And they felt excited.

Many of the runners paused to have their photos taken by the National Lottery hoardings before being enthusiastically moved on by the young lady charged with providing additional information and guidance to the gathering hordes. 

The run was described by London 2012 chairman Lord Coe as a "thank you" both to Camelot and members of the public who have backed the £9.3 billion ($14.8 billion/€11.1 billion) Olympic project.

The National Lottery is contributing up to £2.2 billion ($3.5 billion/€2.6 billion) towards the funding of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is also providing more than £310 million ($496 million/€372 million) from 2006 to 2013 to support around 1,200 potential Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes as they prepare for London 2012 and future Games.

As the event drew to a close, a new wave of preparation was already underway for Sunday's Gold Challenge event – the first fee-paying event at the stadium – where those who have excelled in raising money for 150 specified charities through a variety of sponsored sporting challenges, were due to be rewarded with 100m or 4x100m races on the track.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2011: Ballot opens for public to take part in Lottery Olympic Park run
September 2011: National Lottery gives thousands the chance to run on London 2012 track