Well, what can I say? Welcome to Delhi - some things don't work as they should, but most things can be overcome with patience, good humour and a cunning, devious mind.
I showed up for the start of the 20km race walk this morning (9th October) at 6:30am. At the 1st road block I was told by a CWG official that spectators had to enter at another road block, some 200m away. I walked there to be told by Delhi Police that spectators were not allowed to watch at all. I explained that the CWG official had told me to come to him to be let in and could he sort it out please, as the race had just started. He thought long and hard, then got out his mobile phone. At the same time two members of the Australian media contingent arrived in an auto-rickshaw. Nicole and Dallas from Athletics Australia had been driving around for 40 minutes from roadblock to roadblock and couldn't find a way in. I told them that there was a CWG official at the other road block down the road, and maybe he could help them, although the Lord knows that he couldn't help me. So I jumped in their auto and we beetled back to the 1st road block. We met the same CWG official who told me that the media weren't allowed in because they were late and that I wasn't allowed in because the race had started. Nicole politely but firmly explained that the reason they were late for the media group, and that I was there after the race had started, was because we had all been sent from pillar to post by different officials. 'Oh well', he said, 'you can walk in then'.
So I joined forces with the two Aussie media folk and we walked through the Delhi Police barriers for about 300m until we got to the next set of barricades, this one manned by soliders with machine guns. 'We're media', our intrepid leader announced, as we barged past the machine guns and sand bags, with me in the middle cleverly disguising my complete lack of media credentials by a large pashmina and a fierce expression. We were then beside the walking track, but separated from it by a 3m-high mesh fance. Not bad, but we could better.
We kept walking and came across two more Aussies, Carly and Rosie from Ballarat. They had walked into the VIP area completely unchallenged and it was only when they sat down that someone asked to see their credentials. As they didn't have them, they were thrown out, and were now standing in some bushes near the walking track. They quickly joined our little 'media' team, and then another Aussie official appeared from the bushes. So we re-arranged ourselves so that those of us without any credentials were in the middle and those with uniforms and badges were on the outside of our group. In this formation we managed to make it through the bushes all the way to the Start/Finish Line. At this point, the kind Aussies who'd helped us get there had to leave to do their jobs, whilst Carly, Rosie and I stood next to the official CWG cameraman, trying to look, well, 'official'.
Amazingly, our ploy seemed to work, and we were completely unchallenged. We had a magnificant spot right next to the Line, and an unobstructed view of the track and, most importantly, the walkers.
Word quickly spread amongst the Aussie media, who were desperate to interview anyone at all. Two hours is a long time in sport and there's only so much that can be said about the humidity. So we were soon greeted by several media reps, asking if we could 'do them a favour' by talking to them. So hey, why not?
I was on ABC Radio which was broadcast live in Australia, but since it was probably close to midnight in the Land of Oz, I can't imagine that there were many listeners. All three of us were interviewed by Foxtel, who just loved the story of having to sneak into the Commonwealth Games to cheer on Aussie athletes. TVNZ interviewed us because they couldn't find any Kiwis, and Aussies will stand in as second-best on that score.
We had a great time. Best of all, Australia's Jared Tallent from Ballarat won gold and Luke Adams won silver in the men's competition. Jared's wife Claire Tallent won silver in the women's event. The photo above is of Jared crossing the finishing line.
When the race was over, the media mobbed the medallists in the centre area (between the 'up' and 'down' lanes of the walking track). Since we had done such a great job impersonating the media, I simply followed a uniformed cameraman, marching forcefully across the track, then Rosie and Carly followed. It was brilliant. We were able to take loads of close-up photos of the Aussie athletes, and chat to them about the race.
So, thank you to Nicole and Dallas for getting me through the first two barriers, and thanks to ABC Radio, Foxtel and TVNZ for playing along. Most of all, thanks to the Aussie race walkers who were so inspiring to watch - you were absolutely worth the effort to get there.
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