Guardians of the flame

I had to use the head torch on my run again this morning because I was due to be at a Headteachers' seminar on the London 2012 Games, called "Preparing for a Moment in History".

It was a very inspiring event with over two hundred school headteachers, Dame Kelly Holmes, David Hemery and a host of amazing young performers, including Kieran Gaffney, the incredible 14-year-old drummer who featured on "Britain's Got Talent" last year.

It was also the second time I had come face to face with Kelly Holmes in a week, after she placed my medal round my neck after the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon.

I found the seminar really uplifting.

It was the third time I had heard David Hemerey present, and I was as inspired as the rest of the audience, and also just as much as both the other times I'd heard him.

The phrase he used that really caught my imagination, which he attributed to Bruce Tulloh, the former athlete and coach, was that as coaches and teachers we are "guardians of the flame" of the enthusiasm of the children (and adults) that we work with.

What a beautiful image and an amazing responsibility!