I am staying down in London this weekend as I fly out to the US of A from Heathrow tomorrow. So apart from packing, tying up loose ends to make sure all the athletes under my care are suitably handed over to my colleagues at work & doing some preparative work on the U-18 World Champs, I took a walk along Regents Canal to Broadway Market.
I didn't realise how quickly I negotiate the canal on my bike on my commute to work (punctures excepted) but walking along to London Fields was a more significant task than I was expecting from my warm up section on the bike. Once there, however, it was an assault on the senses...cheeses, Caribbean stews, Indian curries, Turkish offerings vye for your nostrils attention; the expected hustle & bustle of a market environment is punctuated by talented amateur vocalists & guitarists, whilst yesterday a fly-by (we hypothesised for Prince Philip's 90th birthday) by a Chinook flanked by 2 Sea Kings, a B52 Bomber flanked by 2 Spitfires, some more modern day fighter jets & best of all, the Red Arrows wrestled the attention away from all on terra firma at regular intervals; the array of foods, wares & those populating the market have you glancing from one direction to another akin to the crowd at a tennis match...if you like people watching, this is your Mecca! So to crown the experience we decided to stay for lunch & after a considerable amount of indecision & deliberation I opted for a Gahnain beef stew which was a deeply spicy & hearty fare...the peanut & chicken option was so spicy it rendered those in our group that tried it to hiccups! Crackingly hot!
So all in all, a most worthy time out from the mundane pre-travel tasks of laundry & packing...well worth a subsequent visit the next time I stay down in the Big Smoke on a weekend!
Meanwhile, whilst I was relaxing, several GB athletes were competing in the Diamond League meet in New York. The headline event at the meet was the men's 100m with Tyson Gay taking the blocks, however, a mistimed dip at the line saw Gay beaten by Jamaican Steve Mullings in a time of 10.26 secs (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/13740230.stm).
Philips Idowu lead the British charge & won Gold in the triple jump with a leap of 16.67cm which was over 30cm further than the second placed effort of Swede Christian Olsson, whilst Dai Greene finished in 3rd in the 400m hurdles . Dai's result was matched by Tiffany Ofili-Porter in the women's 100m but Jess Ennis struggled in the same race finishing 7th & faired no better in the long jump finishing 45cm off the lead in 8th place (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/13739371.stm).
For highlights see the BBC link below:
