Dec 08, 2009 - 03:00 PM

By Al Rivett

AJAX -- Ajax got a head-start on the arrival of the Olympic torch relay next week by hosting one of its own last weekend.

But, don't tell the 10 participants in the Live Actively Mock Torch Relay it wasn't the real thing. Carrying a real torch used on the relay route in Italy prior to the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, the Ajax torchbearers held it aloft with pride during the event, part of Olympic Day in Ajax on Dec. 5.

A big fan of the Olympics, Ajax resident Cindy Williams persevered through a hat malfunction near the start of her run down Harwood Avenue, as the hat almost fell off. By the end of her run, however, she was carrying the tuque as she prepared to pass off the torch.

"It was falling off, so I thought I would take it off rather than have it fall off," said Ms. Williams.

Her take on the mock torch relay?

"It was very cool," she said. "I love the Olympics and carrying the torch from the Torino Games is amazing."

To be eligible to run in the mock relay, Ms. Williams wrote a short essay, noting her love of sports and specifically the Olympic Games. The Olympics has served as her inspiration to live a healthy lifestyle.

Will she be watching the real torch relay when it comes through Ajax on Dec. 17? She wouldn't miss it.

"Yes, I'll definitely be watching the torch run," she said. "I just think it's a wonderful thing. It will be so great to be able to see the torch. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm going to get up early to see the torch."

Also enjoying his time with the Torino torch was Ryan Fitzgerald, a Grade 11 student at Ajax's Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School. After setting a solid pace with the torch, he put on a finishing kick to end his run.

"I wasn't trying (to go too fast), but people were yelling 'go faster', so I did. It was all for fun," said Ryan, 16.

Ryan and fellow DO'C student Megan Arsenault had their names put forward by the school for the torch run after completing a video project last month where the entire student body held up fabric to form the Olympic rings. The entire scene was videotaped from the roof of the school. The video served as an entry for the Town of Ajax's mock relay contest.

Ryan, too, is looking forward to seeing the actual Olympic torch relay come through town.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said.

In addition to the mock torch relay, there were several other Olympic-themed events in front of Town Hall on Saturday. Included were demonstrations by the Ajax Boxing Club and Ajax Fencing Club, along with other town sporting organizations. Those who attended also had the opportunity to meet Ajax's own Olympian, Paralympian Jeremy Booker, who won gold as part of Canada's sledge hockey team at the Torino Games.

Prior to the mock torch run at Heritage Square, Mayor Steve Parish filled in more information about the Olympic torch's arrival in town on Dec. 17. He noted the relay will begin that day on Bayly Street East at 6:45 a.m., make its way east on Bayly to Burcher Road, where it will go south to Clements Road East and then proceed up Harwood Avenue where the torch will arrive at Town Hall at approximately 7:20 a.m. for a brief stopover before heading east to Pickering.

On stage with the mayor was Daniel Cross, who's run in the Boston Marathon on several occasions. He'll be part of the torch run in St. Catharines on Dec. 20.