Torch relay to run through Genoa

Working as a trainer with the 2002 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic bobsled team left such an impression on Kris Landry that she wanted to bring a little bit of that experience to Carson Valley.

Landry, who owns The Total Body Solution health and wellness consulting service at the Montana Health and Fitness Club with her husband David, is conducting an unofficial torch relay Friday morning along Foothill Road between Kingsbury Grade and the Genoa Lakes Golf Resort (formerly Sierra Nevada Golf Ranch).

An open house Olympic reception to celebrate the opening of the 2008 Beijing Games is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. that night with food and beverages provided.

"It's really caught on," Kris Landry said. "We have about 50 people involved in the relay. There are about 20 people who will be running half-mile segments with a symbolic torch and about 12 chaperones who will run single-file behind the torch bearers."

The relay route will duplicate the one taken with the official Olympic torch was carried through Genoa for the 1996 Atlanta Games.

The Genoa Courthouse Museum lent the official torch to the Landrys for display at the reception, but a symbolic torch will be used during Friday's relay.

"First of all, the Atlanta torch is a true collector's item and we wouldn't want anything to happen to it," David Landry said. "It's very heavy and would be quite a chore to jog with anyway. We're going to use a replica with a piece of fabric trailing off the top to simulate the flame."

To open the event, the Olympic address will be read in English, French (the official language of the Olympics) and Chinese. The relay will conclude at the Montana center with a breakfast reception for the volunteers.

Kris Landry said they could still use more volunteers to mark the course or just in case anyone lined up to run drops out.

"We're hoping people will come out and line the streets to watch this," Landry said. "It's the opening day of the Olympics and we really hope this will help people get excited about it."

David Landry, a self-proclaimed Olympic junkie and walking encyclopedia of Olympic knowledge, said he has been following the Games since he was a teenager. He went to the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

"It's an amazing thing, just the number of people from all around the world that you get to meet," he said.

He produced a mural of posters and artwork from previous Olympics dating all the way back to the first one.

Kris Landry will bring some of her souvenirs from the 2002 Games, including a poster signed by the athletes she worked with.

There will be food donated by the China Jade Horse restaurant, along with pizza, raffle prizes and Olympic trivia contests.

"We just want to open our business up so people can come, watch the opening ceremonies and celebrate the spirit of internationalism," Kris Landry said.

David Landry agreed.

"The Olympics are such an amazing event," he said. "It's about the pursuit of excellence in these people's athletic endeavors. There are a lot of events I am really looking forward to."

Anyone interested in volunteering in the relay or in attending the evening reception can e-mail kris4golf@yahoo.com or call Landry at 782-2803.