Running with the Torch (english entry!)

Watch out this blog entry risks being quite long! Let's start at the beginning, when I first wished to carry the Olympic flame!
I think my dream goes back to 1988, when I was 4 years old. I don't have many memories from when I was that young, but I remember sitting in my living room in Beconsfield and watching the '88 Calgary Olympics on TV. I don't remember the battle of the Brian's or the battle of the Carmen's, I remember the pairs event. I remember thinking, wow that is so cool! I want to do that! My dream continued...I watch the Olympics religiously, my favourite event being the Figure Skating of course. What attracts me to the Olympics? Probably the fact that it is a huge event that brings people from all over the world together, through in joy that sport can bring. Yes competition is an important part of the Olympics, but to me sport is more about being the best you can be and personally triumphing over adversity or obstacles that come in your way, about working really hard or something and then succeeding and thinking back about all the hard work and looking back at what you have accomplished.
My Olympic dream continued when I was in elementary school. I started figure skating. Though I do not have the right body shape to be a pairs skater (I am way too tall!) I love skating and jumping and competing in a team with synchro skating. I remember in elementary school I used to often borrow this book about the torch relay at the '88 Olympics (it was really really heavy and barely fit in my backpack!) and always though, the next time the Olympics are in Canada, I want to carry the torch. I had to wait a while, but the Olympics finally are in Canada!
In 2003 I visited Greece with my family and was looking forward to seeing a country getting ready for the Olympics (Athens hosted in 2004). We also got to visit Olympia, host site of the ancient Olympics. As luck would have it, we were in Olympia on the day they were announcing the host city of the 2010 Olympics. When we visited a museum on the modern Olympic games I was asking all the staff who had won the rights to host the 2010 games but no one knew! I think I finally found out that Vancouver had won a few days later.
Last spring, the 2 torch relay sponsoring companies (Coke and RBC) started contests for people to nominate others or themselves for the torch relay. Wanting to live out my dream of carrying the torch, I nominated myself. Through coke you could nominate yourself for living an active lifestyle or living green. I had to write a text about how I live actively. I wrote about skating and synchro skating. And how though I am older than most of the people I do singles skating with (and not as good as them!) I hope I am inspiring them to never give up and be the best they can be. I also talked about how I skated throughout university and even skated on 2 synchro teams in my 4th year of university. I also mentioned the numerous skating competitions I have volunteered at.
By last May I had decided that I would live out my dreams of participating in the Olympics, though I am not participating as an athlete I will be there as a volunteer.
I was so excited that I was chosen as torch runner. I am among 12 000 torch bearers that will run over the 106 day relay that will cover over 45 000km (which is more than the circumference of the earth!).
I received my uniform (that luckily fit!) and it waited for me in Ottawa till I flew home from Vancouver 2 days before my turn to run on day 44 of the relay. On the morning of the relay (which was gorgeous, sunny and not too cold and of course there was some snow on the ground) I had to be at a meeting spot (near the museum of Civilization) with about 15 other people. We had the chance to chat with each other and were handed our torches and instructed on what would happen and how to hold our torches. And also added some extra wind guards to our torches.
We then all gathered in our relay mini-bus so we could be dropped off at our locations. I was dropped off at the 61th spot of the day which was just off the Alexandra Bridge on St-Patrick towards Art Gallery and Nepean Point.
When I was dropped (about 15 mins before my run) off there was lots of people there. Lots of people I knew; friends, family, neighbours, and lots of strangers too; people I didn't know that wanted to take pictures with me and the torch, which I wasn't expecting. As I stood beside the road I was shaking in excitement. There was some police cars that came by before the flame came. Right before I got the flame came one of the flame guards came over and unlocked the torch and you could hear the gas start to hiss out. Then across the bridge came Lise. She said ''are you ready!'' before bringing her flame near mine and lighting it (they call it the kissing of the torches). After giving her a hug, I moved out onto the road the guards about 6 of them) told me to wait a bit. There was the media truck in front of me that is filming and broadcasting the relay live. There was also about 4 police men on bicycles around the guards keeping people off the road. The torch guards are there to encourage you, keep on schedule and help if anything should go wrong with the flame.
After they they told me to start walking with the flame. And I held it high and looked proudly at the flame as it burned in my hands! Quite the feeling. There are no words that can express the way you feel when you are carrying something as important as the Olympic flame, which is a globally recognized symbol.
I was walking in order for my relay to last longer and to savour the moment, but after a while the guards told me to start running. So I started a slowish run up St- Patrick. My arm got a bit tired near the end so I had to switch arms (the torch with the propane weighs 3lbs or 1.5kg). Before I knew it I had reached the point where I had to hand the flame over to the next runner. I lit Bryan Murray's (manager of the Sens) and then he rushed away and right away my torch was extinguished. People wanted to take pictures of me with my torch but I was rushed away right away by a torch guard onto the shuttle bus and they removed the propane from my torch and deactivated it. As each torch bearer finished their turn and we welcomed them back onto the bus we cheered for them and gave them high fives. As we talked to each other we decided that we could be the elite bus because there were so many important people on the bus, I felt very honoured to have been chosen to be a runner with them. There was 88 year old Lloyd Jamieson, a veteran from the WWII, another veteran from the missions in the middle-east, Lise a 2-time breast cancer survivor and community activist., then me! After me there was Brian Murray (the Sens manager), a Olympic level biathlon coach, 3 guys that work for the Canadian Mint, a Coca-Cola executive, Carolyn Waldo (Olympic medal winner in synchronized swimming and CTV sports-caster), General Romeo Dallaire, the President of Participaction, President of Rogers, 2 brothers that have gone through more family tragedy than anyone should ever have to go through and then got through it very courageously, a girl who like me saw the book on the 1988 relay when she was little and has always dreamed of carrying the torch and a few other people.
After we had gathered everyone from our group onto the bus we were brought back to our starting location at the Gatineau city hall. After that I chatted again with other torch runners and waited to be picked up.
I spent the rest of the afternoon downtown waiting for the big ceremony marking the arrival of the torch on Parliament hill. We went to Rideau centre to warm up a bit and I still had my torch bearer uniform on and some people asked to take pictures with me. There were also other runners in the mall and they would wave at me and I would wave back of course even if I didn't know them. I know there are 12 000 other torch runners, but I now feel like I am part of a very exclusive group that can call themselves torch bearers.
That night on parliament hill we got beaver tails, hot chocolate and noisemakers. They had a big show with gymnasts and drummers and showed torch relay videos. Then Gregory Charles came up and sang the torch relay song with a choir. The community cauldron was lit by Joé Juneau a former NHL hockey player that has started a hockey league for kids from different native villages in Nunavik (northern Quebec); one kid from each village (forming the elite team) was there to cheer him on as he lit the flame.
On the Monday after my torch running I visited my mom's school (she teaches Sr. Kindergarten), I made up this power point presentation and explained how the torch travelled to the cardinal points of Canada and answered lots of questions about what would happen if I dropped the flame or why I couldn't light the torch anymore. I did about 4 or 5 presentations and talked to all the classes in the school except for a JK. One of the funniest questions; ''Did you stop to have a snack during your run?'' I answered I had had a good breakfast and then gave an example of what 300m was. I really liked the enthusiasm of the kids and when the older kids asked thoughtful questions like how did you get picked? or what did it feel like to run with the torch? Can I be a torch bearer or how old do I have to be to be a torch runner. I hope I inspired them! When they left the room they all got to hold the torch.
Later in the week I visited the grade 3 class where my sister was doing her ''learn to teach stint'' which also happened to be my old elementary school. They also asked some good questions, I presented to the grade 3s, and a 4-5-6 class and then all the grade 2s in the gym. The only teacher left at the school from when I was there is the gym teacher. I got some good questions again. I liked how I told them that you can just be a regular person and carry the torch you don't have to be a celebrity or a super star athlete.
Whenever I watch the torch relay on TV or see pics of runners its really special because I know exactly how they feel, I had my turn with the torch, and I will never forget it, ever!