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Oh, the final day of the London2012 Olympics and it’s a beautiful sunny day. Not so sunny down here in the lower levels of the London Media Centre (normally  known as the hub for the British civil engineer group), but we are happy anyway.

Was soon going to Skpye with the Toronto Olympic desk chief Dave Ashton as we have done each and every day for the past 20. But before that, time to dash upstairs for normal lunch of tea, banana and a muffin.

Staff in the lounge said the marathon should be going by soon. As a matter of fact right now, they offered. So with tea and muffin in hand, out I went through the front door, stood on the steps and watched the world of Olympic marathon running go by. Plus all sorts of TV media people in an assortment of vehicles. Truly fun experience.

So now time to return the office inside. Oops no security pass. Left it downstairs. Just going to get lunch after all.

“Sir, you don’t have a pass,” she said. Good observation, I thought.

“You can’t go in,” she said. Fine, go and get my pass, I countered.

“I can’t do that.” she said. Nobody in office. Now, can’t get there from here.

Enough of this. Just marched through, went downstairs and got not only my credentials for the building, but also my Olympic credentials.

Showed her and the security guard on the scanner both the passes.

“You need to wear that at all time,” he barked.

(Not much longer, I thought, not much longer.)

Oh, about the marathon. First Olympic event I have seen.

The Games, and the runners, have just flown by.

Well, hasn’t this been fun!

I know, In know it’s not over yet, but we are getting close and the verdict is in.

Outstanding Olympics put on by this London gang!

All the security, transportation and over-crowding challenges have been dealt with and solved in a peaceful, non-invasive manner.

Lord Coe, Boris the Good Mayor, Mr. Cameron and the Queen of all the people combined to put on one of the greatest shows this world has seen

And while Canada will leave with but one gold medal, it has managed to match the Beijing total of 18 medals, albeit the majority of them bronze.

Getting to 18 was something I did not believe we would reach 10 days ago. While the COC was predicting a number on the north side of 20, I was worried we might even have finished on the south side of 15.

More than happy to be proven wrong when it comes to Canadian fortunes in what we used to call the best “amateur” sports event in the world.

But 18 medals is 18 medals on a very tough playing field. With more than 200 countries on hand, it is still a worthwhile accomplishment.

And as colleague Steve Buffery pointed out in today’s Sun Media papers, the future for Canada is bright at the Summer Games, particularly with the male athletes.

So with just more than 24 hours remaining, let’s give London the royal wave goodbye.

And assure one and all, this show was much more than James Bond and Mr. Bean.

All is good, at least for the 17,000 athletes, more than 20,000 journalists and millions of the fans of the Olympic spectacle.

Hey, the system works and I think this web idea might be here to stay.

First, you start the morning very early here in London, England, with the Sun Media team of reporter Rob Longley, columnist Steve Simmons and photographer heading off by bus to Eton-Dorney, England, a site a good distance from the Sun Media hotel.

First exchange of the day comes from Dave Abel. He reports the good news that he will be in one of the boats for the two races. Down side is that it is a pool position, meaning he has to share his photos with other agencies. No problem, we report back. Better to have the good photo position.

Then the action begins.

First kayaker Adam Van Koeverden of Oakville, Ont., wins silver after leading for a good part of the race.

Right away, Rob Longley sends full story –  largely written before the race begins, but needing some last-minute detail — on to the Sun Media national online team. Samie Durnford, after a quick Got it, swings into action and posts to all our sites across Canada.

Just as she is posting the story and a photo of AVK, another bulletin breaks from Eton-Dorney.

Canoeist Mark Oldershaw has won a bronze in canoeing!

Again, the magical Longley kicks into action. Full story filed immediately after the race ends. And again Samie is on the receiving end. As I am typing this, she is posting the Oldershaw story and photo.

And updating the medal count as Canada now up to 13 for the Olympics.

Whew, everyone can rest.

Not exactly, now Longley and Simmons are off to interview our two newest  medal winners, Abel is off the water and chasing reaction shots and Sami is back posting many more stories back in Toronto.

The Eton-Dorney team are from done. Updated stories for the web, perhaps later versions for Thursday papers, a video shot to note the occasion and many, many photos to be posted by Mr. Abel

And as I type this, it’s not yet 6 a.m. in Toronto.

So wake up, Canada, and in this case, catch up as well.

Boy, the pressure was on. Sweat, tears, lack of sleep, battles with nerves were all part of this Olympic event.

Covering the 100-metre final, gold medal basketball final or the opening ceremony?

No, nothing that mundane.

This was the challenge of herding 18 journalists for an 8 a.m. photo shoot midway through the London Olympics.

How can we get a team that works hard, sometimes plays hard and more than all else takes great pride on being behind the notebook or the camera? Unless of course that is their job such as with vibrant Paul Rivard.

First, we needed a game plan. Meet on Sunday in front of the hotel where 15 of the team are residing. Tell the other 3 they must get to the hotel at a certain hour on a certain day.

First note went out a week in advance, couple of reminders and all went well. Fortunately, everyone made it with the last stragglers about 7 minutes after 8. 18 invited, 18 on hand.

Next was a three-minute walk to the St. Pancras train station where keen Sun Media photographers Dave Abel and Al Charest selected a site in front of the Olympics rings. Brilliant.

We then took several shots and most were able to muster a smile.

Here is the winning shot. All seems easy now.