For Greg Kellett, September 1 2000 will be a day forever etched in his memory.
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On that magical day he experienced one of the greatest thrills of his life - being an Olympic torchbearer.
"I watched all my kids being born and I describe it as very similar to that. That's generally a pretty big thrill for everyone," he said.
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Kellett, who was in 2018 also part of the Queen Baton's Relay, was the 14th runner on the second day of the Tamworth leg of the relay, his special moment taking him from just past Marathon Street at Westdale School to the airport turn-off.
It almost didn't happen though.
"I think they chose 5000 to start with and I missed out on that and then for some reason they decided to pick another 1000 and I ended up in that next 1000," he said.
He received the notification on the day of son Andrew's birthday.
The day itself was "awesome", the freezing temperatures doing little to diminish his excitement. When Joan Rankine, who was the first runner for the day, took off at 7.56am, it was 0 degrees.
But he said you were on such a high you didn't feel it.
"You had goosebumps but you didn't have goosebumps because it was cold," Kellett said.
He spoke of "floating on air" during his stint.
One of the special parts was having his family - wife Sue, daughter Melissa, and sons Andrew and Justin - there to cheer him on as well as his parents and siblings.
"Justin ran the whole leg with me (on the side of the road)," he said.
He would have been eight at the time.
Afterwards Kellett recalled going back in on the bus to town and standing out the front of Ray Walsh House and being approached by a lady from Wee Waa, who was over for a sporting carnival.
"She said to me 'we didn't get to see it in Wee Waa do you mind if my kids get a photo'," he said.
For the few weeks after it was almost like being a celebrity with everyone from the local newsagents, to his doctor wanting a photo, and visits to various schools.
Kellett and Geoff Webster, who had passed the torch onto him, went out to Westdale School and planted a tree. On another occasion, he was part of a charity day at South Tamworth Public.
As part of their fundraising for $1 they could have a photo with Kellett and a flag they had made.
"I'm pretty sure by the end of the day there was 300 that came through," he said.
"There still would have been 25 lined up when the bell for the bus went."
So he had to go back there the next week.
He later had the opportunity to attend the games.
"When we saw the cauldron down there I'd say part of that flame was mine," he said.
He is planning to commemorate the occasion with a few beers, the experience having not lost any of it's lustre over the 20 years. Even reflecting back now he still gets "goosebumps".
