Tickets and Torches

So I, again, lucked out and managed to snag a few more tickets to some other events at the Olympics. Now I also get to see snowboard cross and long track speed skating:

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

1030-1500 - Cypress Mountain - Men's Snowboard Cross Qualification and Final

1530-1850 - Richmond Olympic Oval - Men's 500m Speed Skating Final

1900-2130 - BC Place - Vancouver Victory Ceremony

If you're not familiar with the Vancouver area, this likely doesn't seem like a problem. For everyone else, you know it's almost 50km from Cypress Mountain to Richmond...through the middle of Vancouver. It will be a very...interesting day to say the least. But as long as I get to see some snowboarding and some speed skating, all will be good.

Now, on to my main point of this post: The Olympic Torch Relay. The torch relay is a 106 day trip across Canada starting on October 30, 2009 in Victoria, B.C. and finishing with the opening ceremonies in Vancouver on February 12, 2010. Many of the torchbearers for the 2010 Olympics won't be famous athletes or movie stars, but rather normal, everyday Canadians. Two contests were held by RBC and Coca Cola Canada to find qualified Canadian citizens to carry the torch across the country.

The relay spans the farthest reaches of Canada from Alert, Nunavut in the north to Point Pelee National Park, Ontario in the south and from Cape Spear, Newfoundland in the east to Queen Charlotte, BC in the west. For all 106 days, there are celebrations in the various towns and cities where the torch is resting overnight. The VANOC website has all the necessary details on when the torch is coming to your area and you can check that out here.

The Olympic torch will be arriving in Edmonton on January 13, 2010.

Future updates will depend on whether I think up or find anything interesting about the Olympics between now and October 30 (the start of the torch relay).