The last time the Olympics were in Canada, I was not. I was living in the United States going to university. The torch run that year went through my home town, but I wasn’t there to see it. I knew several people who were in the torch run that year however.
When the details of the torch run were announced for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, I was anxious to find out how I could apply. I applied for the torch run through both Royal Bank and Coca-Cola. The Royal Bank asked you to pledge how you would make a better Canada. I pledged that I would do my part for the environment by composting. We do make an effort to compost in our house and have a composter in our back yard.
On August 17th, I received an email congratulating me on being selected as a potential torchbearer. The wording of the email confused me a little bit, but after reading it I realized that they used that wording in case they had to disqualify you for not passing the security check, or not submitting required information. I printed the 3 page waiver and faxed it to the required telephone number. When I didn’t receive any kind of confirmation, I started to get a little nervous. In the original email, they said we would receive more information in about four weeks. After four weeks came and went, I was worried that something had happened. I attempted to send an email to confirm they had received my paperwork, but didn’t receive a response. Finally on October 13th I received more information and a link to complete my torchbearer profile, including my uniform size and the speed at which I was planning to carry the torch. After completing my profile, I had access to the official torchbearer store, where we could purchase our torch, and also quite a bit of merchandise, such as pins, clothes and other souvenirs. I was interested in some of the items, and added them to my Christmas list, but wasn’t going to purchase anything until I was ready to pay for my torch.
December 2nd I received an email telling me approximately where I would be running, and details on where we were to meet on my run day. It also stated that my uniform would be arriving soon. My uniform arrived on December 14th. I tried it on, took some pictures, and then put it away so that nothing got lost or damaged.
Even with the details provided, figuring out where I would run was difficult. The road on which I would be running has been under construction for the last year. The landmarks given for the torch did not exist anymore. The end of my segment was the intersection of a road that no longer joined. Luckily, the street sign has not yet been removed, and the google maps still show the road, so I could figure out where the end was. Prior to the run, I never did figure out where the start would be. The best idea I could come up with was to use “mapmyrun” and measure off 300m from the end. All segments were supposed to be about 300m, so this was my best guess.
January 19th, the day of the run, the weather was quite seasonable. The temperature would be around freezing when I ran, so I didn’t need to layer on very many clothes under my uniform. We all arrived at Genesis Place to check in at 4pm. The run in Airdrie was scheduled to start at 5:30. When we arrived, our ID was checked and then a sticker was put on our uniform to correspond with our segment number. We were told not to bring anyone with us to the briefing, but a few people did. The briefing was held in a semi-public area (the bleachers of the indoor soccer field), and there were some photo opportunities before we got on the bus, so it would have been nice to have someone with a camera there. After everyone had checked in, we were given instructions on how to carry the torch, and how to transfer the flame. We also were given some tips to smile and not close our eyes. At about 4:45 we went outside, and were given our torches. The torches are each engraved with our torchbearer number. We took some pictures in front of Genesis Place and then loaded the bus. On the way over to the start point of the relay, we watched a 5 minute video about the Olympic flame, showing many of the different torch relays and highlights of the lighting of the Olympic cauldrons. After the video we were each asked to tell the others about why we were selected and what carrying the flame means to us. We had an interesting mix of people in the relay – a former Olympian (and now coach), an Australian member of the IOC Broadcast Team, a man representing Gulf War veterans, two people who are part of the torch relay but in behind the scenes roles, and others like me who were selected by RBC or Coke for various reasons. I talked about how I have always loved sports and especially the Olympics, and remembered watching the 1976 Olympics on TV. I also mentioned that I ran my first marathon 9 days before.
Soon it was time to join in the convoy of vehicles and start dropping off torchbearers. They were playing loud music on the bus, and it was great to wave to the crowds as we drove by. At each stop we would drop off a torchbearer and the Relay Coordinator would jump off the bus and remove the orange marker from the route and stick it on the runner, under their uniform as a souvenir. As we made our way down Main Street in Airdrie, I was starting to get a little bit worried about where my start would be. When there was only one person ahead of me, I was very concerned, as the start seemed like it would be a lot earlier on the road than I had figured. I just hoped that my family would still find me – and I was pretty sure of the end point. Next thing I knew, it was my turn to get off the bus. There were all kinds of people watching the relay where I was. Everyone around me was excited to take pictures and to touch the torch. I was pretty excited but still nervous about where my family would be. When the Coke truck and the Royal Bank truck came by, they both announced my name and had the crowd cheer for me. Next thing I knew, I saw the attendant coming on bicycle, and the flame heading my way. The attendant gave me a final briefing on where to go, he activated my torch and sent me into the street. I got the flame and was on my way. I had to stop briefly at the beginning, as the media truck was stopped ahead of us. Then off we went. I ran through the underpass of the main highway, so I could see hundreds of vehicles backed up while the road was closed for the relay. There weren’t many spectators down in this area, but some of the vehicles were honking their horns (I hope in support, and not because we were delaying traffic!). Soon I saw my husband and my son running along to take pictures. My arm was starting to get sore. It is very difficult to run with 2.5 pounds held at head level. I used 2 hands a few times just to keep things steady. The escorts commented on how far this segment was, and I felt very lucky to run the torch so far (an approximate measurement I did after was about 600-700m). Soon I got to where most of my family was waiting, and it was time to transfer the flame to the next runner. We hugged and I wished her good luck and told her to enjoy it. The attendant was there to turn off the torch, which he had a problem doing and had to pop off the side to get it put out. I barely had time to say hello to my family, and then it was onto the collector bus. When I got on the bus, everyone cheered and there was a lady there to deactivate the torches and put them in a box for us. We continued on picking up the remaining torchbearer and everyone cheered as each was loaded on the bus. As we returned to Genesis Place, we could see the stage and the big TV set up for the celebration. From the bus, we watched Daniel Brown, the final torchbearer, light the cauldron for the celebration.
I soon managed to meet up with my husband, and we headed back to our house where the rest of our friends and family were waiting. We had our own mini-celebration with snacks, a cake, and lots of photo opportunities with the torch. It was an amazing and fun experience – a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure.
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