I never met the man in Nunavut
Who left his footprints in the snow;
The ones who traveled cross the Maritimes
Are people I might never know;
I won’t recognize the boy from Montreal
Or the girl from Owen Sound;
Strangers ran the frozen prairies,
And jogged it through each BC town;
I don’t know why each one was chosen,
But when I looked into my flame,
I recognized each one of them,
I knew everybody’s name;
I could hear the cheering of their crowds
And though we may never meet,
Their echoes spurred my footfalls
As I ran my hometown street;
I could see us all linked arm in arm
And I knew right from the start,
This flame will burn inside Canadians
And give us each a Glowing Heart.

                           J.S. McGregor
                         Feb. 2010