What is the Torch Run?

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is a year-round fundraising and awareness movement organized by law enforcement officers from around the world. In 2007 alone, officers from 35 countries raised more than $25 million for Special Olympics programs. Each year, law enforcement officers from across the state raise money for Special Olympics Pennsylvania (SOPA) by participating in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

How Does it Work:

• Law Enforcement officers run one-to four- mile legs of a relay that traverses their slate or nation, carrying the lighted Special Olympics Torch to the Opening Ceremonies of their Special Olympics Games.
• Participating officers and agencies raise funds through various fundraisers such as the Polar Plunge, Tip-a-Cop and other fundraisers.

In addition to the relay, there are numerous special events that take place throughout the year to raise funds for SOPA. These Torch Run events raise untold awareness for the Special Olympics movement, and involve literally hundreds of law enforcement officers who volunteer their time to plan and organize events like the Polar Plunge, Truck Convoy and other fundraising events.

The public awareness which the Torch Run creates is just as important as the money it raises. As a grass roots event involving well-known public figures, the Torch Run creates deserved recognition of the abilities of individuals with mental retardation. Local law enforcement officers sometimes run through extreme heat and vicious storms, and frequently set goals to run farther or faster than ever before as their personal contribution to the athletes. Special Olympics athletes, many of whom compete in mainstream long-distance races and marathons, run alongside the officers. Communities along the Torch Run route in each state or nation organize parades, award ceremonies and other special events to celebrate the arrival of the Torch.

All law enforcement agencies are represented in the Torch Run, including police chiefs, police officers, Secret Service and FBI agents, military police, sheriffs, corrections officers and state troopers. The IACP endorses the Torch Run, as do numerous federal, slate, city and county law enforcement agencies. Every two years law enforcement Torch Run representatives from each participating state and nation carry the Special Olympics Torch to the Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games. In 1991 officers from around the world .participated in a multi-national Torch Run beginning in Athens, Greece, and ending in Minneapolis St. Paul, Minnesota, site of the Eighth International Summer Special Olympics Games.

The History

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, the largest grassroots fundraising program benefiting Special Olympics, began in 1981 when Wichita, Kansas Police Chief Richard LaMunyon saw an urgent need to raise funds for and increase awareness of Special Olympics.

The idea for the Torch Run was to provide local law enforcement officers with an opportunity to volunteer with Special Olympics in the communities where the officers lived and worked. After three years of successful runs in Kansas, Chief LaMunyon presented his idea to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which endorsed Special Olympics as its official charity through the Torch Run. Today, all 50 states and over 40 countries have their own versions of the Torch Run.