Deborah Hilderman couldn't contain her excitement that the Olympic torch relay had been announced.

While Hilderman wasn't waiting for her nomination to participate, she couldn't wait to tell the new runners all about her experience almost 22 years ago, when the Olympics were last in Canada.

Hilderman, nee Chandler, was the last public torch bearer to hold the flame before it entered the Olympic Stadium on Feb, 13, 1988. She passed the flame to Olympic medalists Cathy Priesner and Ken Reed, who then ran the flame into the stadium and passed it to a young girl who lit the Olympic cauldron that signifies the beginning of the Olympic Games.

The final torch bearers, Reed and Priesner's identities were kept secret until Hildebrand passed them the torch.

"I was lucky to be able to watch them run into the stadium and watched the cauldron being lit,” said Hildebrand.

Hilderman, who has been in the Yukon since 2003 and Whitehorse since 2004, was a nursing student at the time at the University of Calgary when she was given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch.

She was chosen as a torch bearer by Petro Canada through a contest she entered. Because she was from Calgary, she was given the honour of being the last public torch bearer.

"I didn't know at the time where I would be running, but only knew it would be one kilometre,” said Hilderman. "Most of the torchbearers that I met had been given the information of where they would be running that day, but there seemed to be a lot of secrecy in telling me. I wasn't sure why, until the television camera crews arrived to film some of us who were running on the track. Before my run, I was informed I was the last of the public torch bearers.”

"It was exciting enough just to have been chosen for the run, and even more special that I was chosen to be the last of the public torch bearers,” said Hilderman.

The reality of what she has been chosen to do took a while to set in, Hilderman says.

I think that the honor of being the last of the public torchbearers did not really sink in for quite a while until I started getting lots of requests for interviews about me personally and if I knew who the secret identity of the person that was going to light the cauldron,” she said.

Hilderman ran one-kilometre of the relay. The short run was a special moment for Hilderman, one she has never forgotten.

"I can't describe the feelings I had when I was running the one-kilometre,” she said.

Hilderman said the security around her as she ran was extremely tight throughout her short run.

"I was escorted by a large team of undercover RCMP members who held hands in a human chain around me to prevent anything from happening to the torch,” she said. The human chain proved to be a good idea.

At one point in her run, Hilderman remembers her hand being jerked sharpely to the right.

"In the excitement, I couldn't believe that someone did manage to penetrate the security around me,” she said.

Before she knew what had happened, the RCMP officers had taken down the man who had attempted to grab the flame from Hilderman as she ran by.

"The RCMP had this man down to the ground so fast that I didn't even have time to blink,” said Hilderman.

"Before the attempt was made by someone to grab the torch, there were a lot of things going on in my head. Not to trip, slip, fall or accidentally drop the torch. In front of our large group that was running with the torch was a large procession of RCMP horses and with that came nature's droppings that could not be avoided.

"So the entire group also had to make sure we would not step on the horse droppings. Usually someone would yell ‘heads up' and then we would look down to make sure we executed the perfect jump over the horse droppings,” said Hilderman.

"The torch never left my hand and I held the torch even tighter for the duration of the run,” she said.

Besides the security and horse droppings, Hilderman had a few more things on her mind.

"I had to add to my list not to trip, slip, fall, step on horse droppings, accidentally drop the torch and not to let someone steal the torch from my hands,” said Hilderman. "The thought of that at that moment was serious because it could have severely jeopardized the opening ceremonies.

"The flame has a very long history going all the way back to Greece,” said Hilderman – indeed it would be awful to be forever known in Olympic history as the person who dropped the Olympic torch.

Hilderman has a special keepsake from the Olympics, that she is proud to say she can still wear – her torch bearer's outfit.

"My daughter was four at the time that I ran with the torch, and 22 years later and 2 more children later I am proud to say that I still fit into my torch uniform,” said Hilderman.

Hilderman is as excited about the torch relay through Whitehorse as the torch bearers themselves.

"I am totally excited about knowing of three people that will be running with the torch that day and I am so totally excited for them,” she said.

Hilderman says the torch bearers that have been selected should recognize the unique opportunity they have been given.

"First of all, know that being selected to run with the torch is a real honor. (It's a) huge event of a lifetime when you consider the history of the Olympic games and the sacred ceremonies of lighting the torch at the beginning of the games,” she said. "Second, it is an honor to run with the torch in your own home town and have your family and friends there to share this special moment with you.”

She recommends that the new torch bearers relax and enjoy the moment they have been given.

"Running with the torch is much bigger than the person who has it,” Hilderman said. "You really do belong to a club of a select number of people world wide that has had this honor of carrying the Olympic torch.”

Hilderman has never forgotten her moment at the Olympics, and has kept photos and her outfit as a keep sake.

"What I noticed from the 1988 torch relay is how really connected all of Canada became,” said Hilderman. "I think there was more awareness of the importance of the Olympics. People were watching the Olympic torch on the news as it was going across Canada and this built up a lot of anticipation for the Olympic games.There were no barriers or obstacles at any level and no province or territory was left out of the relay because geographical considerations.”

The torch will reach Whitehorse on Nov. 3 in it's journey until it's final destination of Vancouver to open to 2010 Olympic Games on Feb. 12. It set out from Greece last week after a ceremony at the ancient site of the first Olympics.