Committing to the cause: Runners and walkers earn the respect

 Plenty of fans turned out for the race walk by Buckingham Palace

As London 2012 reaches its grand climax, I made sure to make the most of it by getting down to two of the final unticketed events this weekend. Today, I witnessed the men's marathon, traditionally one of the final events of an Olympic Games, but yesterday I saw something completely different - the women's 20km race walk. Both listed under the athletics banner on the London 2012 website, they are considerably different both from each other and from the array of events which have taken centre stage inside the Olympic Stadium over the past nine days. However, they undoubtedly show unbelievable levels of commitment, endurance and skill which the average human just wouldn't be able to put themselves through.

Great Britian's Johanna Jackson was unfortunately disqualified

The women's race walk was certainly one of the most interesting things I have seen over the past fortnight. Taking place in view of Buckingham Palace in the pleasant surroundings of Green Park, the sight of 61 women wearing little more than beach volleyball players do, and walking at speed in the bizarre iconic way that race-walkers go about their business was admittedly a slightly amusing and surreal sight. But that should not detract from the athleticism and focus that these athletes clearly show. To fight the temptation not to go faster when for much of the race they feasibly could is no mean feat. It is one that got the better of Team GB's sole entrant Johanna Jackson, the Commonwealth Games champion  who was disqualified after 8km of the race. She was one of four competitors who were penalised for not using the correct technique. There are judges spaced around the course and if they notice a competitor is lifting both feet off the ground at the same time (meaning they are running, technically) then they are shown a red paddle. Three reds and they are disqualified. This difficulty makes it even more impressive that victor Elena Lashmanova set a new world record when claiming her gold.

The race walkers must always be in partial contact with the ground

Lashmanova stormed to victory, winning with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 2 seconds, more than 17 minutes faster than the Venezuelan Milangela Rosales who came in 55th place (two other competitors didn't finish the race, as well as the four who were disqualified). The 20-year-old overtook her compatriot Olga Kaniskina, the defending champion, in the very last stages of the race. Along with the even more exhausting 50km men's race walk which took place earlier on Saturday, the women's race walk is clearly one of the more difficult endurance tasks at the Olympic Games. Often derided as not a 'real' sport, race walking in fact shows much more commitment than many other disciplines, both through the determination shown to excel at something which isn't exactly popular with spectators (Olympic crowds aside) or prominent on school's P.E curriculums and the intense levels of fitness required to maintain a fast walking pace over such long distances. The sport is also one of the oldest in the Games, with its routes in the 1800s as an original track and field event, and debuting at the third modern Olympiad.  It is one of the great things about the Olympics that these athletes who work so hard and usually remain under the radar, are granted the chance to take centre stage. 

The Union flags were out in force for the marathon

Today's men's marathon again showed the commitment required to succeed at these Olympic Games. Out of 105 entrants only 85 finished as the roads of London got the better of 20 runners. Shockingly, that included the three Ethiopians Ayele Abshero, Getu Feleke and Dino Sefir who were all amongst the top six favourites to win the gold before the race started. In the end it was Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich who finished first, ahead of Kenyan duo Abel Kirui and 2012 London Marathon champ Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (no relation), recording a time of 2 hours 8 minutes 1 second. The medal was only the second gold that Uganda had ever won in Olympics history. Just like last week's women's marathon a runner from East Timor, this time Augusto Soares, won over the support of the enthusiastic London crowd by giving his all despite trailing by a considerable distance. And yet again, the East-Timorese managed to rein in another straggler and finish second from last. Lesotho's Tsepo Ramonene was this week's unlucky competitor finishing last, a full ten minutes behind Soares and clearly in some pain. Yet at least he finished, unlike the twenty other competitors who couldn't manage it.

East Timor's Soares brought up the rear for most of the race

On occasions throughout this tournament I've heard people asking why do athletes bother carrying on in these long distance events if they know they can't win a medal? Well it is clearly a matter of pride and a huge success even to reach the finish line. After all, how many of us can say we have completed an Olympics marathon, or triathlon? Not many. Across all sports in these Olympics, athletes make thousands of sacrifices and put incredible amounts of effort and more often than not they walk away without a medal. But for all the nights out they would be forced to turn down, meals they would have to say no to and hours which they spend training, they at least end up with a sense of achievement. And for that they deserve everybody's respect. After all without the commitment of these athletes, there would be no Olympics for us to go crazy about every four years. Well done, I say, and keep up the good work. You won't be forgotten.

James will be back tomorrow with the final Search for Excellence blog: TSFE's Team GB awards 2012. Return for that, and in the mean time, follow him on Twitter @TSFE2012