Just a month after the Olympic Torch passed through the capital, The Edinburgh Reporter talked exclusively to one torchbearer who is determined to ensure that as many people as possible get to share his experience.
Sixty seven year-old charity worker Ken Logan from Liberton was nominated for his tireless efforts to help others, and since his big day, he has been showing off the torch to young and old alike.
Ken is semi-retired, having worked for thirty years with Imperial Tobacco, and now spends much of his spare time on charity ventures. He helps with the administration of the Edinburgh Direct charity, and has been involved in fundraising by collecting donations in Scotland and the North of England for Bosnia. He has driven trucks to the region on six occasions, including once when the war was still in progress.
He has also been involved in youth work, refereeing rugby matches as well as teaching swimming and life-saving at an east end school in Glasgow. He has taught children to ski in both the UK and the Alps and is an elder in the church.
Ken is also a keep fit fanatic and has raised over £10,000 running fourteen marathons and swimming long distances.
The Edinburgh Reporter caught up with Ken during his hectic schedule at Green’s Gym in Chesser where he is a member. Staff had managed to persuade him to bring in the torch which attracted considerable attention from everyone who spotted it.
He said:- “I stay in Liberton, but I was given a route in Loanhead, which is only three miles from my house. We all had to meet at the Brunton Halls in Musselburgh at 5am for a last minute security check There was a tremendous bonding between everyone there within the first hour and a half. There were three Americans, three Russians and someone from Kenya on our bus. There were seventeen of us in all and the whole thing was nicely done. The crowds in Musselburgh were unbelievable and as the bus travelled along Milton Road we were all getting into a high. We all knew where we would be running and I was dropped off at the 50mph sign as you enter Loanhead. I had plenty of supporters there to see me, people from the gym, rotary club and the church, and I was very proud to have been given the opportunity.”
Modest Ken played down the dangers of delivering donations to Bosnia, and even took his two sons with him on one occasion. “It was mainly at the end of the war, although once I went whilst the fighting was ongoing and almost went into the Serb territory, but there was no real danger although I had to be aware of the minefields. Latterly they were well signposted but not initially so.”
Since carrying the torch, Ken has been amazed at the number of people who want to see it. He continued:- “I could have kept the torch in the house, but I would much rather show it off. The interest in it is phenomenal. I’ve taken it into twelve schools and nurseries, and also a care home for the blind. It was an ideal place, as the residents were able to hold it and feel it.”
Ken is now an expert on the design and history of the torch, but for those less knowledgeable, the Olympic Flame is a symbol of the Olympic Games, commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus. The torch has 8,000 holes – created with lasers – which give the design a more transparent appearance, and also prevent heat from being conducted down the handle. The holes represent the number of people who will take part in the Relay.
The reason that the torch is triangular is that the designers noticed that there were a number of trinities in the history of the relay, this is the third time that the Games have been held in London – 1908, 1948, 2012; the Olympic motto is ‘faster, higher, stronger’; and the vision of this year’s Games is to unite ‘sport, education and culture’.
The material used for the inner and outer skin is aluminium alloy, originally created for the aerospace and automotive industry. It is modern, corrosion and heat resistant, and, most importantly, light. Despite its height the torch was designed to be easy to carry for the younger bearers, the whole thing weighing only 800 grams.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
