Country stars...
Although I spent Friday night presenting , I spent the rest of my weekend with 'country stars' of a different kind.
The were held at Hollyrood Park in Edinburgh. It was thirty years since the event was last held in Scotland and for the thousands who turned up to support, it was a chance to see the stars of world athletics close up.
On a brilliantly designed course, spectators got so close that you could get splashed by the mud as the fastest men and women in the world ran by at a breathtaking pace.
After his record breaking win in Edinburgh, Kenenisa Bekele is rightly acclaimed as the greatest cross country runner of all time. Seeing him run by us in in Hollyrood Park was, as Hugh McDonald in the wonderfully described it, "like walking into a local snug bar and seeing Pele playing dominoes."
Bekele caused 10,000 people to gasp when his shoe came off early in the race. Despite losing 50 places in the race, he clawed his way back to the front and went on to take the gold. It was like he was saying, 'Man I'm so good I can stop to tie my laces and still beat the lot of you!'
As part of the commentary team for the weekend I was lucky enough to stay at the athletes' village. It was a privilege to see close up how these people prepare for a big race. The biggest eye opener was the amount of food they put away. A bowl of cereal, one bowl of porridge, four or five slices of toast and a couple of pancakes was pretty typical.
After a breakfast like that I would struggle to walk to the other end of the kitchen, never mind run a race.
It was a weekend of unforgettable sporting action with the young athlete relays on the Saturday morning, the thousand brave souls who tackled the 5k up Arthur’s Seat on Sunday morning, the return of a home countries international on the Saturday afternoon, and of course the main races on the Sunday afternoon.
I was a bit worried about my voice for the show as I had spent the weekend commentating on the Welcome The World races and then spent Sunday afternoon running around the course with my mates, shouting ourselves hoarse cheering on Andrew Lemoncello the sole Scot in team GB.
The 25 year old runner from St Andrews gave it his best shot but struggled with a stitch in the third lap. Earlier in the week Andrew had urged Scotland's young athletes to come along and be inspired by the world's best.
They can't fail to have been inspired by what they saw at the weekend. I may not be young or particularly athletic, but when I ran to work next morning there was a spring in my step that definitely wasn't there before the weekend.
