An owl's-eye view of the London 2012 men's marathon

In a desperate attempt to cling onto the last dying embers of the Olympic flame, Owl Towers despatched a correspondent to the men's marathon route on the final morning of the 2012 games. Firstly, a big 'hell yes' to the organisers for creating a course of three laps instead of one huge route, thereby enabling viewers to see the runners pass multiple times. We'd travelled a whopping 1.3 miles and spent a bankrupting £0 to catch a glimpse of this event, so we wanted to get our money's worth.

Motivated by a hatred of West London and a suspicion that that way huge crowds lay, coupled with chronic laziness (it was a Sleepday Sunday morning, after all) we aimed to watch the athletes pass at Bank, the 5/13/21 mile mark. Dear readers, this decision paid off bountifully, as we emerged from the Underground to bag a spot on the second row for the first lap, and progressed to the very front when those in front of us left following the passage of the final athlete on his initial circuit.

It was a hot August day; uncomfortable weather for owls and distance runners alike. Undoubtedly this took a greater toll on some athletes than others, as 20 of the 105 starters dropped out at various points throughout the race.

The day's heroes were two athletes in particular: the winner, a young man from Uganda called Stephen Kiprotich who beat two Kenyans into silver and bronze, claiming his country's only medal (and their first gold since 1972) and enabling them to finish joint 50th in the medal table, and the man who finished last, Tsepo Ramonene of Lesotho. He could have given up, but strove to finish despite finishing 10 minutes behind the bloke in front of him and 47 behind the winner. Let's just remember that he still completed a marathon in under three hours AND his personal best is nearly 40 minutes faster than he ran this particular race. This owl got tired just watching the athletes run.

On that note, here's a video of Tsepo approaching the finish line. He may not have won the marathon, but he definitely takes home The Sporting Owl's award for 'Admirable Completion of a Race When Everyone Else Had Gone Home'. Congrats, Tsepo. You've done Lesotho proud.