Google Supporting Equality at the Sochi Olympics

 

The above was the Google Logo this morning on the day of the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, with all of the coverage on Russia's appalling homophobic policies it is good that some companies are willing to make a stand for what they think is right, I think the logo itself being the rainbow flag shows their support for the LGBT community in Russia but adding the quote from the Olympic Charter will hopefully make the IOC look more carefully at their own charter when they think about where they host their tournaments.

Hopefully Fifa will put some pressure on Quatar and Russia ahead of more global showpieces being held in areas where equality is a word rather than a way of life.

5 Challenge Update

I wrote a blog post a while ago about 5 challenges I had set myself, before moving on with the new things that I am doing now I wanted to update, the 5 challenges I said I was going to attempt were:


2nd July to Mid August = 10,000 Steps for Pancreatic Cancer UK

September = Chiltern 3 Peaks for Ian Rennie Hospice

7th October = Blenheim Half Marathon for British Heart Foundation

14th April 2013 = London or Brighton Marathon for Pancreatic Cancer UK

1 Other to be decided later.

I completed the 10,000 steps and the Blenheim Palace Half Marathon and in April completed the Brighton Marathon (in case you were wondering it is a really long way!!)

As it turns out I couldn't complete the Chiltern 3 Peaks but instead completed (With my darling wife along side) the Bucchus Half Marathon which although only 13.1 Miles was almost as hard as the full marathon due to being off road and largely uphill.

Anyway, I have so far managed to raise just over £1,000 and am now coming into the final challenge of the five challenge series which will be the London2Brighton Challenge. (Feel free to sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/Adam2Brighton ) This will be an 100k 24 Hour Run/Walk but hopefully can raise some money for Pancreatic Cancer UK

Also this year I took part in the Lottery Anniversary Run which was a 5 Mile run around the Olympic Village finishing in the Olympic Running Stadium with a 3/4 Lap of the stadium, Obviously being my first year of running any events like this it was really unlike anything I had ever done before and the moment you run out of the tunnel and onto the track in front of a Stadium full of spectators was a really unique experience.

So below is my collection of Medals from my first year of running, They are the medals for (Left to Right) The Bacchus Half Marathon, The Brighton Marathon, The National Lottery Anniversary Run and the Blenheim Half Marathon.

And hopefully this time next year I will have some more to add to them!

Olympic trials

Today I join the list of many athletes hoping to feature at 2012, this may come as a shock to those of you who did not know how sporty I am, but I have a real shot of making 2012 in the volunteering team, now whilst I know this is not one of the most glamorous events, and working for free is not every one's cup of tea, I figure the Olympics are unlikely to be in the UK again in my lifetime so I may as well see if I can get involved.

It is actually a pretty good deal for me, my company are a main partner and so they will pay me for my time so it is basically a work placement for a couple of weeks.

First however I have to get through today, a full day assessment centre, featuring team tasks and eligibility criteria, they claim it is a lot of fun, but I will reserve judgement, the good thing is, if I mess it up, all I have lost is the chance to work for free, so pressure off a bit.

New Olympic Mascots

When I heard on the Radio this morning details of the new mascots for 2012 described I thought there was going to be another example of bad design decisions which seem to have plagued the games, after all there was wide spread ridicule at the observation tower and the 2012 Logo is in my opinion a real disgrace. Now when a new Logo is launched people do tend to dislike it as it is different and not something they are used to, over time however they get used to it and then start to like it. This is not how I feel about the 2012 logo, I have a 6 ft copy of the logo next to my desk at work (As we are a Tier 1 Partner) and even my Bank card has a 2012 logo. but still every time I see it I am reminded how much I dislike it. so hearing that Lord Coe & Co have selected two giant, one eyed Aliens filled me with dread.

Well here they are

And I like them, they are fresh and dynamic, I like their metallic look and think they are good characters with good merchandising potential, in short I think they have it right for once.

And their names, Wenlock and Mandeville are also a great touch, Greece may have started the Olympics, and it was as always the French who decided to try and create a global federation for them but it was at Much Wenlock in Shropshire that they really started and Stoke Mandeville where the Paraolympic games started. so in picking these names they are saying that unlike Football, Rugby, Cricket and others Great Britain may not be the first place you think of for the Olympics, but like so many other great institutions they too can trace their path back to these shores.