By: SparkPeople Guest Blogger, SparkPeople Blogger
2/12/2010 5:12 PM   :  197 comments   :  14,324 Views

See More: olympics, spread the spark,

Editor's Note: Back in December, we shared the story of Alison Yakel (ALLEYCAT12380), who has been a SparkPeople member for a little more than a year, and she's lost 80 pounds and counting. Alison had signed up with a Coke promotional website and noticed a promo seeking torch bearers, and on Jan. 5, her dream came true. Now, with the Olympics starting today, we wanted to follow up on her story. Though she's quite humble about the experience, we think her story is an inspiring one!

By Alison Yakel (ALLEYCAT12380)

My Torch Run has come and gone, and it was an unbelievable run. It felt WAY too short--I never really realized how far 300 meters was (or I guess how short it was). I ran in the town of Ste. Anne, Manitoba, only 30 minutes from Winnipeg. There were six of us running in the town. One gentleman was running with the Olympic torch for the second time. The first time was back in 1988 in Brandon, Manitoba.

There were tons of pictures taken by family, friends, and many others before, during and after. It was interesting to see my husband running on the sidewalk, taking pictures and trying to get by people to get a few good shots of me running. It made me smile when I saw him doing that.

We were on the shuttle bus for a bit. I felt so out of place, compared to the others. The others had better stories than I did when they were selected. One was a full-time fireman in Winnipeg, a family man and also a volunteer fireman in a small town. Two others were high school students on a sports team, coaches on top of that, and one of them became in the top 15 athletes for ringette this past year. One person coached girls' hockey team and was a junior high school teacher. As I said, I felt out of place. They were chosen for a very good reason, with all the hard work they have done for their community. Me, I just entered a contest.

We all were on the bus, getting dropped off at our destination pit-stops. Mine was at town hall. I got to stand in front of it and wait for the previous guy to come and light my torch. Once we did, we got to sing the national anthem in English and French. Then off I went for my jogging bit.

During this time, when I was on the bus, before my run, I felt so overwhelmed that several times, I felt like crying. Everyone outside was cheering us on, I was waving to them, they were waving back, and one student even pointed at me, all so happy I was waving at her. I could be wrong, but it felt like this is what all the athletes must feel like when they get to go to the Olympics, no matter where they came from--that they all have the same goal, feel pride that they are doing something good, being a role model for someone somewhere, doing the best that they can in their sport.

I am so happy I had the guts to enter that one contest with Coca-Cola. I would never have dreamed this most amazing experience. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Would never trade it for anything.

Editor's Note: Alison, we here at SparkPeople disagree. We think you ARE quite special. You lost more than 80 pounds, started making healthier choices--and wrote a winning essay that allowed you this amazing experience.

Have you achieved any goals that you never thought you'd reach? What are they? Do you tend to take pride in your accomplishments or do you downplay them?