Sports
Special Olympics SoCal 'Flame of Hope' Relay Gets Underway
The annual event began with a midmorning ceremony at Chula Vista Police Department headquarters.
CHULA VISTA, CA — Teams of law enforcement personnel put on their jogging shoes Tuesday and launched a 1,500-mile, 10-day fundraising relay torch run through eight Southern California counties, a tradition that will benefit the Special Olympics and kick in the agency's 2025 Summer Games in Long Beach.
The annual event began with a midmorning ceremony at Chula Vista Police Department headquarters, highlighted by the lighting of the flame that officers will carry as they make their way through the San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura areas.
In all, personnel with more than 300 law enforcement agencies will join Special Olympics Southern California athletes in transporting the agency's Flame of Hope, raising tens of thousands of dollars through pledges, sales of commemorative T-shirts and other initiatives, according to organizers.
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The first leg of the relay began in the late morning Tuesday at Chula Vista City Hall. From there, sets of runners were slated to continue on to the north into and through San Diego before stopping for the day at North Torrey Pines and Science Park roads, near Torrey Pines Golf Course.
On Wednesday, the joggers will make their way through Carlsbad, Oceanside and Camp Pendleton. On Thursday, the event is set to cross over into Orange County on its way toward its final June 6 destination.
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The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest public-awareness drive and grassroots fundraiser for Special Olympics Southern California. It takes place in all 50 U.S. states as well as in Canada and 46 other nations, with some 97,000 officers around the world participating, SOSC officials said.
Across the globe, law enforcement has raised more than $1 billion dollars since the event's inception in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas, when then- Police Chief Richard LaMunyon recognized a lack of awareness and a need to raise funds in order to offer people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to play sports and send athletes to the Special Olympics, according to the agency.
The Southern California branch is one of the leading programs in the world, having raised nearly $23 million since 1986.
— City News Service
