Olympic torch on the way to Hamilton
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70 runners will carry flame across 21 kilometres of city
Coke is one of the relay's sponsors -- along with RBC -- and Moran has been travelling to communities across the country with the torch.
The relays are part of a well-oiled machine but each community adds its own flair, he said.
He will be here tomorrow and Sunday as more than 70 runners take the torch across 21 kilometres of the city. Hamilton is close to halfway through the record 45,000-kilometre Olympic trek across Canada.
The event is planned down to the last detail, with rolling blockades bookended by local police, two caravans, multiple security vehicles, Olympic flame backup, music, volunteers doling out gifts and vans dropping off and picking up runners.
It is an amazing and emotional experience for those involved, said the Olympic committee's regional route co-ordinator, Jason Andrich. He arrived in Hamilton yesterday to prepare for the relay.
Preparation includes training the select group of locals that will don Olympic mascot uniforms for the event.
Starting along Main Street West, crowds will be met by the first car that sets the pace for the relay, followed by the van that drops off each runner for their leg of the race. A second van near the back of the group picks up the runners post-relay.
Streets along the route will open and close with the front and back of the caravan, without disrupting the steady pace of the runners, Andrich said.
Perhaps the most important of the more than 15 vehicles is the torch security van. Inside are two of 12 flame attendants who are with the flame at all times. Also inside are six backup lanterns lit with the Olympic flame.
Andrich said this came in handy in Yukon when the wind -- gusting over the torch's 65 km/h limit -- blew out the flame.
The relay will enter Hamilton at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow and makes its way to Dundurn Castle, where a celebration starts at 5:30 p.m. The relay starts back up at City Hall at 7:25 a.m. Sunday morning.
About 5,000 people are expected at the celebration, which a local task force spent more than a year planning, said Jennifer Kaye, the city's manager of arts and events.
Entertainers include Tom Wilson, John Ellison, Jude Johnson and Hamilton Youth Steel Orchestra.
Kaye said the city encourages residents to meet the caravan along the route and go to the Dundurn Castle celebration.
Coke has sponsored a Cirque du Soleil-like group that includes drummers and acrobats.
Along with the performers, spectators can sip hot chocolate and will have the chance to take their picture with the flame and RBC-sponsored Olympians at the celebration event, said Katie Hammill, RBC spokesperson for the 2010 Olympic torch relay. They will have a 40-member team at the event.
"It sounds kind of hokey, but there is a true spirit there," she said.
The city will have more than 50 staff on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Coke selected its relay runners through a ParticipACTION challenge, which encourages physical activity, and a contest to describe how to make yourself or the earth healthier.
RBC selected its runners through its Carry the Torch contest that asked applicants to pledge how they would help make a better Canada.
Robert Korver pledged to leave no one behind, "where all Canadians feel welcome, especially those who don't fit into society's norms."
The pledge is for his eight-year-old son Owen. He has Asperger syndrome and a large facial deformity caused by a tumour from a genetic disorder.
Owen knows his father is running for him, Korver said. He has been telling everyone -- strangers included.
Owen, six-year-old Jonas Korver, and wife Victoria Korver will be cheering him on.
EVENT BREAKDOWN
* Hamilton will be Day 51 on a 106-day, 45,000-ckilometre journey
* There are more than 15 vehicles in the relay caravan, including police and vans to drop off and pick up runners.
* The relay starts in Hamilton at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow on Main Street West at Dundurn Street South. The route turns onto Bay Street North and then York Boulevard, ending at Dundurn Castle.
* Celebrations at Dundurn Castle begin at 5:30 p.m.
* There is no street parking along the route or at Dundurn Castle; however, the city will be providing non-stop shuttle service to Dundurn Castle between 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. It is free to those who bring a non-perishable canned good to the event. The bus departs from the HSR bus stop on the north side of King Street between Hughson and John.
* There will be about 70 torchbearers carrying the flame in Hamilton tomorrow and Sunday, with more than 50 running on Sunday.
* The route tomorrow night covers 3.6 km and 17.46 km on Sunday.
* Sunday's relay begins at City Hall at 7:25 a.m. and travels along Main Street East, Queenston Road and then heads out of town on Highway 8.
* As part of RBC's sponsorship, the torch will stop at McMaster Children's Hospital from 6:50 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. to allow patients, family and staff the opportunity to see the flame.
* The Olympic committee's travelling stage weighs 45,000 pounds.
