JOEY’S BIG DAY OUT!

After all those hard hours slogging away writing down bus departure times and telling people how to walk in a straight line to get to the correct stop, I finally got my deserved rewards. This, COMPLETE WITH PICTORAL EVIDENCE, is the story of JOEY’S BIG DAY OUT!

Firstly, I had to get to Stratford, which was different from a regular volunteering day because I couldn’t use my volunteer side entrance that I discovered. Why? BECAUSE I WAS WEARING MY OWN CLOTHES!!! And it felt great. I opted for my first trip on the new Javelin train, which is a train shaped like a javelin LOL HOW RELEVANT!

Kings Cross St Pancras really getting into the Olympic spirit!

I had heard some bad things about over crowding and queues for the Javelin, and as you can see, there were definitely other people on it.

It went incredibly fast, just 6 minutes from Kings X to Stratford which I reckon is faster than an actual javelin, although I’D FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS A BIT LATER ON…

Once arriving at Stratford International, even though I hadn’t left the country, I realised I would have to navigate myself through the notorious WESTFIELDS SHOPPING CENTRE. Despite the immense crowds, it was luckily open to everyone, so I took a deep breath and weaved my way through the crowds.

As you can see, it was absolutely HEAVING! Lucky the news reports about how busy things get are so accurate, so a big thanks to the media for the warning and their relentless optimism about transport and the crowds.

I passed through security successfully even though there were a few drops of water left in my bottle, which made me slightly nervous I’ll admit, because although mine were actual drops of water and not terrorist bombs, if they didn’t detect those then who knows what other substances masquerading as drops of water they might be letting through!? I hope they know what they’re doing.

And finally, here was the stadium!

To be honest, it looked the same as it does every day when I volunteer, but somehow it felt more special knowing I would be inside it, kind of like a girl.

Once inside, I was put in the SEATS WHERE THE ATHLETES SIT! Right next to the flame, which emitted heat as if it were a cauldron.

And then I enjoyed 4 hours of incredible running, jumping and throwing things. Highlights included:

THE FROG MAN

GOLD MEDAL WINNER JESSICA ENNIS. Don’t be mislead by this misleading leaderboard suggesting that Ennis is 2nd, because she was actually 1st! NAUGHTY LEADERBOARD.

I also got to see her throwing a Javelin, which really made my day go satisfyingly full circle after having taken a Javelin to get there. As I had suspected, it didn’t go nearly as fast as the train had, but perhaps that’s because she is a heptathelete and not a Javelin specialist? Who knows.

and then I saw…the BOLT OF LIGHTNING HIMSELF: BOLT!!!!!!

He is quite far away but if you use binoculars you can see him.

Finally, I realise all of these photos are pretty static so here is an action shot to prove that people were Actually running:

And at 13.45, after having seen all of the fastest men on earth, the British poster girl of the Games not on a poster, and the thrilling 3000 metre womens steeplechase qualifying heats, I departed a fully satisfied customer (EXCEPT I DIDN’T ACTUALLY BUY ANYTHING LOL!!1!)

Then I went home from a different stop on the Overground slow trains because Westfield’s was exit only and the Javelin had a 45 minute waiting time.