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SCOTT SCHMIDT
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Festivities for the 2008 Alberta Summer
Games officially kicked off Wednesday evening with the traditional
torch relay.
Relay organizer Ed Stiles decided the
running of the torch should highlight two things: Medicine
Hat’s extensive path system, and the city’s local
athletic scene.
In the end, it was an overwhelming
success.
“It went very well,” said
Stiles during the after-relay dinner at the Carriage House on the
Stampede Grounds. “We had a lot of participation from a real
broad cross-section of ages, activities, and athletes.
“The weather was perfect, we had a
little bit of a head wind which could of slowed us down a little
bit, but we dug in a little harder and went ahead.”
A little less than 60 people participated
in the event which was even more than Stiles had hoped to see. He
also added that the spectator turnout was quite good and that
people followed along with the torch throughout parts of the
route.
The relay began on the South Saskatchewan
River at Echo Dale where the Miywasin Society paddled along with
the torch in a traditional voyageur canoe. The Mad Hatters Running
Club took the torch onto land at the Trans Canada Bridge and used
the riverside trails to take it to the YMCA where the Volksport
Walking Club took over.
The evening’s most experienced
athletes took the torch through Lions and Strathcona Parks to meet
up with some representatives of Old Time Hockey who handled things
until the base of Sholton Hill. From there the steep incline of the
hill was tackled by athletes of the Alberta Sport Development
Centre who then guided things through Leinweber Park and into the
Stampede Grounds where a ceremonial lighting of the Games’
larger torch took place.
The official lighting of the Games torch
will take place at tonight’s opening ceremonies at the
Grandstands in front of the 2,539 registered athletes and coaches
who will be arriving throughout the day. Competition officially
begins tomorrow morning at over 30 city venues.
Participants of the relay were as pleased
as Stiles was with the night’s turnout.
“I’ve grown up doing
sports,” said 17-year-old Allison Knodel, who was part of the
final leg. “It was kind of a really good thing to be a part
of.”
Another member of the anchor leg says her
involvement with the development centre helped condition her for
events like this.
“I’ve gotten way stronger
physically and mentally,” said 17-year-old Lindsey Pierce.
“It was pretty cool.”
Clearly the slang of her comment sticks
out as both girls said the heat made the steep climb of Sholton
Hill more-than intersting. They might want to consider themselves
lucky as the mercury is expected to rise right through the
Games. |
