Friday, June 19th, 6:25pm

Leave a comment June 16, 2015 drworobec

Ah, the Pan Am torch run.

It’s happening on Friday… Friday, June 19th, at 6:25pm.

My segment starts at the Waterfront Trail, right below Spencer’s restaurant, and I run the torch into Spencer Smith Park (you can see the official Google Map here) for the official Torch Relay presentation, as Burlington is one of Pan Am’s “Major Celebration Cities.” The Sound of Music festival will be happening too, so the park will be a focal point, chalk full of people and activity.

I was nominated to carry the flame by my great friend and neighbour, Marnie, unbeknownst to me until the list of twelve finalists was released in December 2014. The City of Burlington then issued an online voting system to determine the city’s Pan Am Community Torchbearer, and the results of this vote were made public in March. It’s been a few long months of waiting for this exciting moment, and it’s finally here.

People keep asking me “what does this experience mean to you?”, and that’s a hard question for me to answer.

It means community. It means sport. It means friendship. It means honour. It means goosebumps and family and support and passion. It means my kids get to watch me do this. It means I get to do this.

These are the visions that race through my mind when I think about my 200m with the torch:

olympic-torch-relay-scotland-image-13-513122947

And it really does give me goosebumps. See you Friday! panammap

I’m Burlington’s Pan Am Community Torchbearer!

4 Comments March 30, 2015 drworobec

Um….. I WAS VOTED BURLINGTON’S PAN AM COMMUNITY TORCHBEARER! I have held in this secret for two very loooooong months. I found out about this result soon after voting closed in late January, but I wasn’t able to share the news with anyone until the Pan Am Games made their official announcement, which they did last week.

Believe me, this was a hard secret to keep.

The torch will pass through Burlington on Friday, June 19th, although I don’t know many more details than that. This is what I do know:

Where: Spencer Smith Park; this also happens to be the Sound of Music Festival weekend.
Length of run: 200m (and here I was hoping for a 5k! Ha!)
And: Burlington is listed as one of Pan Am’s “Major Celebration cities.”

So to you, my readers, my patients, my family, my friends: I thank you for granting me this incredible opportunity. And to you, Marnie, my friend, my neighbour, my nominator, thank you for igniting the spark for all of this to happen.

Mark June 19th on your calendars.

And come join me along the torch route as we celebrate the Pan Am spirit of community and sport.

C’mon, tell me you don’t have THIS song running through your head right now.

One click. One vote. One torch.

Leave a comment December 19, 2014 drworobec

I usually publish my blog posts on Tuesdays. But, you see, this is not a usual week.

I was just notified that I’m one of twelve finalists nominated to carry the Pan Am torch as it makes its run through Burlington this Summer, en route to Toronto for the 2015 Pan Am Games. I can’t think of a cooler opportunity. My friend and neighbour, Marnie, sent in a nomination unbeknownst to me, and here I am, excited about the impossible becoming possible.

Pan Am news is everywhere in the GTA. Commercials abound, billboards are popping up, and the buzz is growing. This is kind of a big deal. Toronto 2015 is only the third time in 85 years that these International Games have been held on Canadian soil. Right in our own backyard.

And it’s exactly the type of thing I love. I’ve been to the World Track & Field Championships, three World Junior Hockey Championships, and a College Bowl game. I’ve cheered at more NHL, CFL, MLB, NBA, NLL, and MLS games than I can count. I plan family outings around sporting events, I time my holidays around races, and I nearly knocked over Mike Weir on the fairway of a PGA event (true story). I am a sports-based chiropractor, I married a Phys Ed teacher, and my kids know that fitness is a part of life. I believe that grassroots minor sports are windows of opportunity, growth, and dreams. I live and breathe this stuff, it’s what makes me tick, it’s what makes me me. Passion? Nope. It’s more than that.

Sport is community. Sport is health. Sport is important life lessons all rolled up and condensed onto a playing field.

I’m a fan. I’m an athlete. I’m a mom raising fans and athletes.

So I am turning to you, my community. I am hoping for your support, asking for your help, tugging at your heart strings, requesting your vote. One click. One vote. One torch.

Please VOTE here: http://cms.burlington.ca/Page14733.aspx#.VJN5nrgYU

With my humble thanks,

Ashley