Gerry Brown felt like a rock star, but figured the flame in his hand shone brighter to the crowd.The quarter mile carrying the Olympic torch was over in a flash, Brown said, the minutes were like a mere moment of eyes on the golden holder.Brown, a Forsyth County resident, carried the torch through Winchester, England, earlier this month as one of 8,000 passing the single flame.The 70-day relay leads up to the opening ceremonies tonight.Brown ran his leg of the route on day 54. As he got off the bus to prepare for the run, he was surrounded by adoring Olympic fans.“Everyone wanted a picture of me with the torch or them near me with the torch,” he said.It wasn’t lit at that point, though, because only the “kiss” passes the flame from one torchbearer to the next.Brown had some nerves about the exchange after the briefing the previous night. “At the moment in time … you are the only person on the face of the planet that is carrying the Olympic torch flame,” he said.But right before his scheduled torch-carrying time of 1:30 p.m., Brown heard some words of comfort.
Local man carries Olympic torch
Experience fans flames of service
![](https://forsythnews.cdn-anvilcms.net/media/images/2017/07/17/images/Torch_WEB.max-1200x675.jpg)
![Torch WEB](https://forsythnews.cdn-anvilcms.net/media/images/2017/07/17/images/Torch_WEB.max-752x423.jpg)