Torchbearers share their memories

Emily Ingram and Tracy Coish had a few things in common on Saturday.

They were both dressed in white, and both women shared an experience with 12,000 other Canadians.

"It was an out-of-body experience," said Coish after carrying the Olympic Flame through the streets of Clarenvile.

Coish and Ingram were two of seven torchbearers on the Clarenville leg of the cross-country relay. Brittany Dean of Little Heart's Ease had the honour of carrying the torch in St. John's on Friday.

"I thought it was a hoax at first," recalls Coish when she first got an e-mail saying she had been pre-selected as a torchbearer last spring. "I thought, what a crock!"

Torchbearers had to apply online through Coca Cola or Royal Bank of Canada - sponsors of the Olympic torch relay - to be entered into a draw.

More than 100,000 Canadians applied, but just 12,000 were lucky enough to don the white torchbearer's uniform.

Moments before carrying the lit torch, Coish could scarcely contain her smile.

"To be part of the excitement - to be part of everything going on... I almost cried on the drive here. I was just so overwhelmed."

Dean was equally shocked to learn she would be carrying the torch.

"When they called me in June to let me know I was a potential torchbearer I was like, 'what! Me?' thinking that it was some prank phone call, I asked her to explain what she was talking about. I remember I burst out with screaming tears; my mom didn't know what was wrong with me."

Dean had her name entered in the torchbearer's draw by signing up on the website, as encouraged by a teacher. Her family, friends and some teachers were on hand in St. John's to see her carry the flame.

"Exciting isn't the word - flabbergasted is more like it. It didn't even start to kick in until last week when I received my uniform," she says. "I keep reading more and more about it every day, which make itsa whole lot more meaningful and exciting. Nothing in the world could possible mean as much to me as the second I get that Olympic torch in my hands, also knowing I am going to be apart of 2010 history."

Ingram found out in August that she would be one of the lucky torchbearers. The torch weighs about three and a half pounds, which Ingram says is "not too heavy." All torchbearers have the option of buying their torch - for $350. It's a little steep, but McDonald's in Clarenville put up the money for Ingram's torch so she can hold on to the memory and share it with others.

The uniform, however, is hers to keep.

"I'm going to put it up on my wall," she says.

After the relay, tears rolled down Coish's face as she described the experience.

"It was the single greatest moment of my life," she says. All torchbearers were asked to sign a guest book. "I couldn't even sign it, my hand was shaking so bad," she laughs.

Torchbearers were relayed along the torch by a shuttle bus that dropped them off and picked them up after their run.

"It was like a party bus," remembers Coish.

Dean, too, had a special moment on the shuttle.

"It really hit home that I was a torchbearer when I was sitting on the bus with all the other torchbearers. That's when I thought to myself, 'This is really happening. I'm part of this big event'," she said. "When they handed me the torch I cried. It was so overwhelming and special. I felt so proud."

Ingram echoes Coish and Dean's feelings of pride.

"To stand with the torch and have another runner come up to you and light it was just so special. I felt such pride," she says. "Then, when I first saw my family and friends standing on the roadside and clapping and cheering, it sent chills up my spine. What a moment."

More Olympic torch coverage on pages B1 and B3. Photo feature on pages B4 and B5.

lbutton@thepacket.ca