VIRGINIA BEACH – About 30 police officers will run more than 4 miles through the city next week as a part of the annual Law Enforcement Torch run to raise money for Special Olympics Virginia.
The fundraiser involves about 2,000 law enforcement officers running across the commonwealth, from Bristol to Richmond. The Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games are in Richmond June 10 and 11. Collectively, the officers will run close to 2,000 miles by the time a torch reaches the destination.
The Virginia Beach portion of the run begins at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at 3712 Virginia Beach Blvd. That leg is expected to last until about 8:45 a.m., when the torch is handed off at the Norfolk city line on Newtown Road. On Thursday, the run will resume at 7 a.m. in the Macy’s parking lot at Greenbrier Mall in Cheseapeke. The two-day route through South Hampton Roads will also include Portsmouth and Suffolk.
Officers will also be carrying the “Flame of Hope” from several other parts of the state. In the final leg, metro Richmond officers will run from the State Capitol to the University of Richmond’s Robin Stadium, where the Summer Games will be held.
For information on how to sign up to cheer on the athletes at their Summer Games, or to attend the opening ceremony on June 10, click here.
The torch run raises funds and awareness for athletes to compete in the Special Olympics. Fundraising efforts include corporate sponsorships, T-shirt and hat sales, and events like Tip-A-Cop and the Polar Plunge. Last year, the region including Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk raised $88,731 for Special Olympics Virginia through the Torch Run, according to Kathy Hieatt, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office.
Torch Run fundraising has collected $1.3 million since June 2015 for the Special Olympics, putting overall fundraising from the event at more than $18 million since the Torch Run’s inception in Virginia in 1986, according to a release.
