Statistical Summary

My Statistics:

5152 air miles

2066 miles driven

a gazillion miles walked

1407 photos taken

3 weeks away from home

9 hamburgers consumed

24 diet cokes kept me going

one pair of shoes mostly worn out

hundreds of horses admired

hundreds of visitors from foreign lands greeted

hundreds of athletes cheered on

a fair amount of $$$ pumped into the economy

one adventure of a lifetime!!!

WEG Statistics:


507,022 attendees

16,800 feet of bike barricade

8 miles of linear fencing

396 temporary structures

70 temporary power generators

59 miles of electrical cable

20,000 temporary seats

more than 11,000 signs placed around the park
500 flags

30,000 feet of extension cord

632 athletes

752 horses

58 countries

More than 100,000 servings of Kentucky Ale brand beers poured

1,734 Maker’s Mark bottles dipped in red wax at the station inside the Kentucky Experience

175,220 pounds of recyclable and compostable materials removed from the park

56 percent of waste diverted from landfills through green initiatives

500 temporary toilet facilities

7.6 million page views to the Games web site from September 25 through October 10

193 countries represented in web site visitors

62,707 school children visited the Games thanks to Alltech

79,802 Facebook fans…and still counting!

6,000 AWESOME volunteers

1.1 million meals served to spectators, staff, athletes and volunteers

112,368 cars parked

326,260 trips to and from the Games taken through the main entry transport mall

16,000 caps, 5,000 walking sticks, and 1,000 saddle pads sold in the merchandise store

11 months-- youngest credentialed person; the son of press officers John and Heather Strassburger

"Eyes on the Weg"
blog by Judy D. Treman
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
www.eyesontheweg.blogspot.com

October 13, Home at Last!

My husband, my dog and I arrived home from the airport shortly before 1 a.m. this morning. We are all glad to be together again. Though it was the grandest possible adventure, it is good to be home.

 I've had time to reflect on a great experience the WEG was. All of the recruiting information for volunteers talked about volunteers being WEG heroes. They emphasized that the games wouldn't have been able to go on without our help. Indeed, the volunteers I saw went about their jobs whole-heartedly.

Looking back, I see there are many heroes:
The people of Kentucky who had a dream and made it happen.  Just a month before the games the organizing committee ran short on money. They were given donations in the millions by the sponsors and individuals to keep it going forward. We heard one man gave a million dollars and asked that school kids be allowed to take in the games; we saw hundreds of busloads of thousands of schoolchildren who saw a different piece of life thanks to his generosity.


Over 1/2 million horse lovers throughout the world who came to support the games and watch their heroes in action.  I met a couple from Germany who decided to make it a vacation out of it. He pulled out a book of $4500 worth of tickets they had purchased. He was one of many like him.

All the people behind the scenes that have been working, some for 4 years, to insure success.  I chatted with the ladies in charge of decorating the jumps with plantings and flowers. Hordes of them worked in the wee hours to add color and beauty to the scene. Hundreds of people cordoning a path daily to guide cars to the parking lot, energetically waving us on and smiling.

All the people I met, spectators, volunteers, Kentuckians, visitors from foreign countries as well as the states who constantly went out of their way to be cheerful, pleasant, helpful and full of good will.

Athletes from all over the world who came to live their passion and try to make their dreams come true.  Sis chatted with a 92 year old woman who was one of the first women to ride in dressage years ago before women did it. She dressed like a man and won! 

The beautiful and wonderful horses who showed intelligence, courage, power and heart in the way they willingly partnered with their humans to be the best they could be.  One of the jumping horses was so excited it took halfway around the arena for the rider to begin to slow him down. He was raring to go! A dressage horse had so much personality and loved showing off. He knew he was hot stuff and so did the crowd who gave him a very deserved standing ovation!

     All in all, it was a thrill to be a part of so many, trying so hard, to make the games a sucess.

     I hope my blog has let you see the WEG through my eyes. May all your trails be happy ones!

Two volunteer sisters--shoppers too!

October 12, East to West to East

     I Left Danville and drove 2 hours to Harrisburg; one hour wait; flight to Chicago; 1 and 1/2 hour wait; flight to Seattle; 5 hour wait. Next I will fly to Pasco; one hour drive to home; arrive early tomorrow. It makes a very long day.

     Today my eyes are blurred!

October 11, A Rest Day

My bags are packed for the big schlep home to Washington tomorrow via Chicago and Seattle. I seem to have accumulated lots of stuff. 

Misty Pennsylvania morn and brother-in-law's retirement gift

Today we have enjoyed watching previously taped NBC coverage of the WEG as well as finding video of our favorite parts on YouTube. We also have a complete set of WEG coverage by the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper. This paper did an outstanding job with both photos and articles. We still can't get enough of our trip of a lifetime!

Kudos to volunteers

     An e-mail came thanking us volunteers from the CEO of the WEG:

Hello, everyone!
     As we enter the final days of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, I can tell all of you, with absolute confidence, that one of the most important and long-lasting legacies that will come from these Games is the unbelievably positive media reports and spectator comments we have received regarding our volunteer team. Across the board, the message has been that the friendliness, hospitality, efficiency and professionalism of our volunteers is unrivaled anywhere in the world.

     As we have known all along, you would be, and have been, the face of this event and I cannot begin to express my appreciation for your dedication and hard work.

     On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the World Games Foundation, the people of Lexington and all of Kentucky, and from me, personally, thank you for making the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games the incredible success it has been.  
    
     Without you, none of this would have been possible and I can only hope that your experience has been worth all that you have given.

You are the best!

Kind regards,

Jamie Link, CEO
World Games 2010 Foundation, Inc

Day 16, Last day of WEG

We are at the Pennsylvania sister's. Real pancakes for breakfast. With strawberries! Steak, baked potato and FRESH GREEN BEANS for dinner last night. Real food!

Sis's asthma/sinus is improving but she still has a very impressive cough. Her husband and dog were elated to have her home once again.

Last night I enjoyed watching a slide show on my iPad of my 1400 photos taken in the last 2 weeks. The memories come flooding back.

Our view of the WEG today is on the computer and recorded NBC coverage. I highly recommend the following for interesting newspaper articles:

http://www.kentucky.com/weg/

And:

http://www.alltechfeigames.com/results

You can go to different dates for more stories.

It is really cool to watch the cross country on tv a week after we watched it in person. I can tell you everything is bigger and more awesome in real life! I'm sure if I watched it enough times I could find us in the crowd.

The closing ceremony is at 4 pm today and ticket prices have been slashed from $80 to $30. It will have many dignitaries, the committee from Normandy which will host the games in 4 years and an hour of Lyle Lovett.

The visitor count is over 500,000 for the WEG. Ticket sales were less than expected, and many thought if the prices had been less the sales would have been higher.

The venue beautifully handled the games. The only complaints were sore feet from the vast distances between the different arenas. Our estimates of 7 to 11 miles per day seem to be the norm.

The organizers worked hard each day to correct any problems. For instance, new picnic tables appeared each day to accommodate the crowds. They also added more direction signs and people movers each day.

Any way you look at it, however, the games have been a colossal success. We are very proud and happy to have been a part of it.

In my mind's eye I see:

Visions of horses, athletes, horses, volunteers, horses, trade show, horses, miles of walking, horses and the stadium, flags flying, in the setting sun



An interesting story about a blind rider

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/10/09/1472216/eblen-blind-competitors-reining.html