THEIR VERSION

18 months before the Olympics began, they had to request tickets.  They mapped out the events and sent in their request for tickets.  A few months later, the reply came that they had each been granted 3 of the 11!  They were really discouraged, but after thinking it over, they decided that they would still go.  The Women's and Men's Marathons were viewable all along the course and they would be able to see other events that were going on in the stadium while they were there to see the one they had a ticket for.  

They also were able to see the women's bike race as it went right past Buckingham Palace.  They were right on a curve and saw so many crashes.  Then came their first event.  They arrived early to an almost empty stadium.  But the torch was flaming and ready...soon the stadium filled and their event began.  They saw Galen Rupp win a silver for the USA.  They have followed him for years when he first began running at Central Catholic in Portland, even way back then, they talked about how someday he would win at the Olympics, so it was pretty awesome for them to see it happen.

After the first two days of running events that they went to see, plus all the added in events, they had a 4 day gap that they were not given tickets for, so they filled it in with a trip to Ireland.  They had to take a train up north, then a ferry over to Dublin.  It was a pretty fancy ferry compared to any  that I have been on.

While there they visited Trinity College, St. Patrick's Well, St Stephens Green, Guinness, and some castles.  

Then they rented a car and drove to Glendelough-Wicklow and took a hike for the day.  

Then it was a flight back to Cardiff, England for a Bronze Soccer match between Japan and Korea.  Then back to London for the Men's Marathon.

The next day they took the long flight home.