Since I can't run now, I have to share about some running related things that may be entertaining to others :).
Before I went to the hospital, earlier in the day on Jan.28, I attended my company's annual FKOM (Field Kick-off Meeting). It was mostly listening to boring speeches, except for one invited guest, CEO of one of UK's publishing companies. He was brilliant, and if he wasn't a CEO, he would have made a great stand-up comedian. Some of his British-rooted jokes went over my head, but otherwise he was just awesome. He got almost a standing ovation at the end. Then there were more boring speeches, and then, at the end, they announced a "surprise" speaker. It was none else but Seb Coe!!! I just about fell off my chair - that was the least expected speaker at this corporate function.
Seb was talking mostly about his efforts on the London Olympic Games committee and his work in popularizing sports in local communities. He said he is trying to resurrect traditional sports, including track and field, in UK, talking about how football (soccer), cricket and rugby are so much more popular than anything else in England. He is a pretty good speaker with a sense of humor. He showed couple of videos that were presented to the IOC as part of London's bid to host 2012 Olympics. I've never seen them before, and they were great. The first one focused on London's cultural value and had a lot of funny moments and was very entertaining. The second one, which was shown in the final round, was a very emotional clip about the influence that Olympic Games have on young generation. It showed 5 kids watching the London games on TV, one in America, one in Russia, one in Africa and two others I don't remember from where. Then it showed how these kids picked up one sport and made it to the next Olympics. It was very well done (all set to music, no narration), and it undoubtedly influenced the IOC. Seb also showed the tape of IOC's announcement to grant 2012 Olympics to London. I've seen the pandemonuim that broke in the auditorium, but I havent' seen the reaction of Londoners who were watching the announcement live in various parks, squares and pubs on large screen TV's (because I was still in US). It was really something, people were screaming, jumping and going crazy with happiness.
Anyway, it was a real treat to hear him speak. I wanted to get his autograph, but he left right after his speech, unfortunately. He didn't speak about his running at all and whether he still runs, but he looks very fit.
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