CALGARY - As Debra Roy brought her son into the world in January 1988, she told doctors to hurry it up - she had a race to run.

The day after giving birth, Roy left her Winnipeg hospital bed to board a Greyhound bus, hell bent on taking her place in Canadian history. The day after that she proudly hoisted the Olympic flame high as she ran and rode down a frigid northern Ontario highway.

"I wouldn't suggest anybody go and ride a snowmobile and run a mile 50 hours after giving birth,'' Roy laughs. "But something special like that, you do what you have to do.''

Roy's passion for being a part of the 1988 Olympic torch run has clearly rubbed off on her son, Neil Harbun. Now, as Canada gears up to host the Winter Olympics for the second time, Harbun is preparing to take up the torch where his determined mom left off.

The University of Manitoba science student, who doesn't know yet when he'll be running in this version of the relay, notes his mother's advice has ranged from "don't screw up'' to "try not to cry like a baby.''

"I'm pretty sure I probably will.''

Roy, who lives in Sioux Lookout, Ont., admits that although she talks tough to her son, she expects it to be an emotional experience.

"I thought I was in tears when I carried it - if I see him carry it, I'm sure I'll burst into tears again.''

The Calgary Olympics marked the first Winter Games to be held in Canada and organizers of the torch relay were intent on using it to pump up national pride from coast-to-coast long before the opening ceremonies even began.

They set themselves a lofty goal: the longest torch relay in Olympic history, crossing 18,000 kilometres in 88 days and touching each of Canada's ten provinces and, at the time, two territories.

Vancouver's relay is trying to up the ante. It, too, is being sold as the longest relay within a host country's borders. The first runner is to hit the road at the end of this month, and the flame will criss-cross 45,000 kilometres of Canada over 106 days.

Most of the 7,000 torch bearers for Calgary's run were selected by random draw - there were no restrictions on who could apply or how many times one name could be put forward.

Calgary firefighter Ron Story used that to his advantage, stopping at every Petro-Canada gas station he passed on his way to and from work to slip his name into the slot just one more time. One of those 350 entries paid off.

Story jogged his kilometre in early February 1988 along a windswept, snowy highway in southern Alberta. He stayed snug in the -25 C weather by stuffing long johns, a T-shirt, a sweat suit and a jacket beneath his official red and white track suit.

"Watch the weather for sure, and dress accordingly, because even though it's over in the blink of an eye, that blink of an eye can be frostbite," he joked.

Story is also running in the Vancouver relay on a stretch of road not far from his first run.

He may find things look a little different this time around.

Calgary's runners wore red and white track suits capped off with a floppy-pointed white tuque. Vancouver's torchbearers will sport a more muted snow-white ensemble touched with blues and greens.

The '88 torch - a round, metallic replica of the Calgary Tower perched atop a wooden handle - will be swapped out for a streamlined white pillar meant to evoke the smooth lines of snow and ice. But some have joked the new torch evokes an infamous B.C. symbol, a lit marijuana cigarette.

The new torch will stick close to communities.

In '88, many of the torchbearers ran a kilometre in rural areas that were only dotted with spectators. Vancouver racers will take turns running 300 metres in more urban areas.

Runners in the upcoming relay also must work for their moment in the sun - everyone picked had to submit a small paragraph detailing what they had done or plan to do in life to earn it.

Barbara Burns, who is also set to become a two-time torch bearer when she hits the road near Dartmouth, N.S., pledged to lead by example when it comes to lifelong fitness. The 74-year-old woman prefers power walking to running, although she said she may pull a "switcheroo'' when her time comes and she once again feels the torch in her grasp.

She learned from her first relay that the fevered excitement that surrounds the torch can result in people wanting the shirt off your back.

"It sort of built and built and built and after a while everybody wanted to be involved in some way.''

Wearing her uniform after her run drew "an awful lot of attention.''

"In fact, I had some people who actually wanted to buy it from me,'' she said. "I know one fellow came up to me and (offered) like $750.

"I wouldn't part with it.''

Jim Hunter, who organized the Calgary relay, said every day offered moments that gave him goosebumps. He recalled how in Montreal, excited people crowded in so close that runners could barely move.

Despite a carefully laid-out schedule, every day ended hours behind.

"For me the torch relay was much bigger than getting the flame across the country, it was much more about a letting Canadians realize they all have a little spark in them, they have a little fire in them.''

It's a feeling that Jim Richards, who is organizing the Vancouver relay, hopes he can bring back.

"It's quite an honour to step up in front of all of Canada, to stand with the Olympic flame, and to say: 'I'm representing my community, my neighbourhood, my family,' and inspiring those around them.''

Perhaps the most visible torchbearer of the '88 Olympics was also one of the smallest.

Speculation ran rampant as the race ramped up about who would take the final leg, an honour often reserved for former Olympic medallists and athletic heavyweights such as Muhammad Ali, who was the last runner at the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996.

As the Games' opening ceremonies began, a girl who was just 12 shocked spectators when she stepped forward with the flame.

Robyn Perry carried the torch up a set of concrete stairs at the opening ceremonies before rising on tiptoes to dip it into a cauldron, releasing a massive flame that burned throughout the Games.

The competitive figure skater, who now goes by her married name Ainsworth, recalls that she saw the task as just one more routine to perform. She raced up the stairs, dodging people who got in the way.

She took one moment to salute at the top before sprinting back down.

"I remember looking out at the crowd, but you couldn't see faces because everyone had the ponchos on, all you saw were the actual big designs in the crowd. And then I just remember the loud bang when it was lit.''

It wasn't until she was bombarded by international media at a press conference that she realized that all the world's eyes had been upon her in that moment. That split-second image of her lighting the flame became emblematic of the Games and changed her life in an instant - she was last recognized on a Calgary street just last week.

She said she'll be watching whoever takes her place in Vancouver on Feb. 12, 2010 to light the flame that signals the Games have begun, and hopes that unlike her they take the time to really look around.

"Enjoy every second of it. It's something to be very proud of."