Sainsbury's Race to Rio Day

Friday 26^th July 2013 marked the second day when members of the public were allowed to enter the now-hallowed grounds of the amazing Olympic Stadium. The first day being associated with the National Lottery Anniversary Run, which happened the week prior; a 5 mile run around the Olympic park, with participants concluding by crossing the finish line on the inside track at the stadium. 

The Sainsbury’s Race to Rio event was launched with the aim of getting as many children active in sport and to support the development of the next generation of Paralympians, alongside native sons and Paralympic champions Jonnie Peacock and David Weir and many others.  With Sainsbury’s contributing £10 to the British Paralympic Association (to meet their target of a £57,500 donation) for every child that completed a mile (4 laps) around the track, there were many reasons for the kids involved to be totally excited about the opportunity.

Along with this fantastic opportunity, the kids were treated to meeting Tony Minechiello, athletic coach of Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, got a VIP pass to the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit (which doesn't open to the public until April 2014) and even got to meet, get autographs and question Paralympic athletes, like Dan Greaves in person, who were specially brought in for the event.


...London skyline from viewing deck of Orbit. Can you make
out which iconic London buildings are in the distance?



View from under ArcelorMittal Orbit...

Well that’s it for the introduction!

The kids from Cumberland School, as well as athletes from Newham’s disability athletics clubs, multi-sports ability club and volunteers from Newham & Essex Beagles were all in attendance. Also participating were 100 Sainsbury’s customers who won an in-store competition.

Fiona Miley (activeNewham staff member) makes a face
after being told it was a children's only race!

From their spotlight moments of running for various broadcasting houses including the BBC, who covered a live segment of all the kids doing a 100 meter dash, to them being followed by camera crews to be shown on the stadium screens, just like the "real" athletes would on a game-day, coaching tips from world-class coaches and everything listed before, they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves! The exuberance shown by the children and their moments of immense concentration when listening to the coaches and athletes available was incredible to see! You could almost hear the voices inside their heads saying "Maybe if I impress Tony, he might want to coach me!" or "Wow, how can I become a pro like Dan!"  The interest was so palpable, those mental ponderings were almost audible! 

Coral Nourrice's van couldn't keep up with Sainsbury's
staff member who raced to the finish line! 

You know what else was cool? Those remote controlled Sainsbury's delivery van replicas zooming round the track, getting their test drives in before being put to work for the weekend's big Anniversary Games event at the stadium. They were used to transport javelins and discuses thrown on the field to save a poor volunteer from running up and down, bringing them from where it was picked up, back to the throwing area. "Boys toys" one Sainsbury's staff member stated, only to have England Athletics and activeNewham's Athletics Activator Coral Nourrice, follow up to be the first to get her hands on the control and have a go!

It was amazing to see such a mix of able bodied and youngsters with various impairments be able to have the privilege to be the centrepiece for such an inspiring event. The proverbial road to Rio stretches 5750 miles from London and each child loomed larger than the mile they represented for those who completed their pledge on the iconic red track here in Stratford, E20. They were undoubtedly the stars of this moment! We could only hope that maybe some of them will return as thee stars, victorious for the UK after the Rio 2016 Games.

The stadium staff, representatives from Sainsbury's and the Sports and Activities team from activeNewham, who were all held out of the activities and reduced to cheerleaders and chaperones, all seemed quite pleased with the event. Being able to support and coordinate such an activity for such lucky kids was a pleasure. Hopefully this is just the start of such inspiring moments over the next few years till the euphoria of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.

Rio here they come!