Pearland resident Ken Block was one of the runners who carried the Olympic flame enroute to lighting this massive cauldron at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.: Kevorck Djansezian: Getty Images
By KIM MORGAN

More than 12,000 people took turns passing the torch all across Canada before the Olympic winter games began in Vancouver.

Pearland resident Ken Block was one of them.

“It was great feeling like the whole world was watching me,” said Block, a 61-year-old father of three. “It was unbelievable, the people and the spirit they showed during my run. I was a star for a short time.”

Block carried the torch 300 meters in the city of St. Albert, Alberta, near the province’s capital of Edmonton.

Block was nominated to carry the torch by fellow employees at Aggreko, a company that specializes in running cable for power and sound for high profile events.

Block has worked on projects at the Super Bowl, the presidential inauguration and the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

“It is really amazing working with techs from different parts of the country,” said Block, who has been with the company for 16 years and is currently a shop foreman and field supervisor.

Block had to pass the torch to another runner when his stint was over, but it wasn’t to his boss George Walker, a Kingwood resident and president of Aggreko North America, who also ran in the torch relay.

Walker, 52, ran his 300 meters in Abbotsford British Columbia, a province to the west of Alberta, and the host province of the Olympics.

“The crowds were unbelievable,” Walker said. “I felt like a celebrity for a day and very honored to be carrying the Olympic torch.

“The crowds cheered me on and everyone wanted their picture taken with me and the torch.”

Walker said Aggreko is an official supplier to the winter games, which came with the honor of 10 positions on the torch relay team.

Walker, like Block, was nominated.

“I have worked with Ken for many years,” Walker said. “His professionalism and commitment to customer service is what caused fellow employees to vote for him to carry the torch.

“His enthusiasm for everything he does is contagious.”