Hot Opportunity for Local Flame Bearers

The schedule is timed out to the minute.

On Wednesday at 9:21 a.m., David Rodela will be standing in front of a car dealership in Oxnard, where he will meet a convoy of vehicles delivering the Olympic flame from Pasadena.

Wearing an official white Olympic jogging outfit, the Oxnard resident will light his torch from the official caldron and then carry it past a crowd of onlookers expected to gather for the event. He decided to walk with the torch rather than run, because he wants to savor the moment.

“I’m only going to hold it for a little while,” said Rodela, 19, a lightweight boxer who aspires to compete in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. “So I might as well enjoy it.”

Rodela will be the first of 43 torchbearers to carry the flame through Ventura County as part of its 13,500-mile journey across the United States for the 19th Winter Olympic Games, which begin Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City.

At least 11 of the torchbearers in Ventura County are local residents who were chosen in a nationwide campaign because they were considered people who inspire others or embody the Olympic spirit. The others were chosen by Olympic sponsors or city officials.

In all, more than 11,500 torchbearers are scheduled to run, walk or roll their wheelchairs across 46 states in the 65-day relay, which began Dec. 4 in Atlanta.

Each torchbearer carries the flame one-fifth of a mile before passing it to the next. The daily relays last about 12 hours and span roughly 208 miles.

“It’s phenomenal,” said Jaime Rupert, a spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. “It’s an experience to see this country, from its smallest of towns to the biggest of cities. The patriotism.”

The relay through Ventura County will begin in front of Todey Chevrolet, 1345 N. Oxnard Blvd. The flame will arrive in a huge caldron on the back of a pickup truck, part of a convoy that includes local police and 12 Olympic vehicles.

The flame will arrive from Pasadena, the host city of the relay earlier that morning. It will be carried roughly 50 miles through Oxnard and Ventura, passing several schools--including Sierra Linda Elementary School in Oxnard and Lincoln Elementary School and Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura--along with numerous businesses and private homes before heading to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Roads will remain open throughout the course of the relay in Ventura County, except around Plaza Park in Oxnard, where thousands are expected to gather for a midmorning ceremony.

At 9:47 a.m., a torchbearer will carry the flame into the park. The relay will stop for 15 minutes while the Oxnard High School band plays the Olympic theme song and Oxnard Police Officer Felice Thompson sings the National Anthem. Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez will present a representative from the Olympic Torch Relay Committee with a key to the city.

“The Olympics symbolizes something that is very positive for everyone: the dedication, the discipline and everything else that is required for people to get to that point as athletes,” Lopez said. “What a good thing it is for everyone to participate and be aware of [that].”

After the celebration, the flame will continue down the streets of Oxnard until it reaches Vineyard Avenue near Edelweiss Street at 10:43 a.m. There, the flame will be placed back in the caldron and transported along the Ventura Freeway to Seaward Avenue in Ventura. The first Ventura runner is due to pick up the flame nearby at 10:53.

At 10:59, a torchbearer will carry the flame down Main Street, past Ventura High School and under an arch of helium-filled balloons in the school’s colors, gold and black. All 2,000 students are expected to be outside, cheering the torch as it passes. Students also will engage in mock Olympic tournaments in the parking lot, including broom hockey and slalom races on skateboards.

“The torch only comes through Ventura County who knows how often,” said David Hess, the school’s activities director. “We get an opportunity to see something you don’t always get to see.”

The torch last came through Ventura before the 1984 Summer Games, which were held in Los Angeles.

Becky Burnham, a Ventura woman who owns a toy store in town, will be the last person to run with the torch while it’s in the county. At 11:35, she will carry it down Main Street to Peking Street, where the motor convoy will take the flame into Santa Barbara County.

Burnham has taken her role as torchbearer seriously.

Since August, when she first learned she had been selected, she has worked with a personal trainer to get fit. Twice a week she heads to the gym, where she lifts weights and uses a treadmill while holding a 3.5-pound metal rod in the air--an object the same weight as the torch. Burnham wants to make sure she’ll be able to carry the real thing high above her head the entire distance.

“If I’ve got this honor, I want to look good,” said the 54-year-old, who once aspired to compete in the Olympics as a springboard diver. “I want to hold my head up and look proud. I want everyone who comes out to watch to be proud of me too.”

Ventura County residents are also carrying the torch through other parts of the state on Wednesday. Greg Dollarhyde of Thousand Oaks, president of the Baja Fresh restaurant chain, will carry the torch in Mission Viejo, and Simi Valley’s Joe LaSalle, a personal fitness trainer who uses a wheelchair, will transport the flame in San Luis Obispo County.

“It feels great to be a part of this, to feel more united with the country and . . . share the Olympic spirit,” said LaSalle, who twice finished the Los Angeles Marathon, but will be pushed during his moment of Olympic glory.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Passing the Torch

According to the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Relay Committee, the torch’s schedule for Ventura County is as follows:

8:55 a.m. Torch enters Ventura County via convoy

9:21 a.m. Begin torch relay at Todey Chevrolet, 1345 N. Oxnard Blvd.

9:23 a.m. Right turn on Glenwood Drive

9:27 a.m. Left on F Street

9:32 a.m. Left on Doris Avenue

9:35 a.m. Right on C Street

9:41 a.m. Left on 3rd Street

9:43 a.m. Right on A Street

9:46 a.m. Right on 5th Street

9:47 a.m. Light torch stand

9:47 a.m. City Park Plaza ceremony

10:02 a.m. Runner heads toward C Street

10:04 a.m. Right on F Street

10:08 a.m. Left on 2nd Street

10:09 a.m. Right on H Street

10:15 a.m. Left on Doris Avenue

10:17 a.m. Right on M Street

10:23 a.m. Right on Ivywood Drive

10:27 a.m. Left on H Street

10:32 a.m. Left on Bluebell Place

10:32 a.m. Right on Ironbark Drive

10:37 a.m. Right on Holly Avenue

10:37 a.m. Left on H Street

10:39 a.m. Right on Vineyard Avenue

10:43 a.m. Pass Edelweiss Street. Begin convoy to Ventura

10:44 a.m. Pass Wagon Wheel Road/Esplanade Drive

10:45 a.m. Merge onto Ventura Freeway northbound

10:46 a.m. Enter Ventura city limits

10:51 a.m. Right exit at Seaward Avenue

10:53 a.m. Begin running past the “Bike Lane” sign near 40 mph sign

10:54 a.m. Cross Ocean Avenue

10:57 a.m. Cross Thompson Boulevard

10:59 a.m. Left on Main Street

11:00 a.m. Pass entrance to Ventura High School parking lot

11:06 a.m. Pass Live Oak Drive on right

11:09 a.m. Cross Santa Clara Street at Lincoln School

11:15 a.m. Cross Kalorama Street

11:16 a.m. Left on Fir Street

11:18 a.m. Right on Thompson Boulevard

11:21 a.m. Right on California Street

11:24 a.m. Pass Ventura City Hall front steps

11:26 a.m. Ceremony at Ventura City Hall

11:26 a.m. Left on California Street

11:27 a.m. Right on Main Street

11:37 a.m. Enter Ventura Freeway toward Santa Barbara

11:50 a.m. Leave Ventura County