Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

Once again Cook County Sheriff’s Office officials and leaders from local and federal law enforcement agencies will be kicking off “Leg 5” of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced on Monday. 

The Torch Run for Special Olympics contains 24 total ‘legs’ of the race with the Sheriff’s office being responsible for coordinating Leg 5 of the race each year.  It is an annual event that takes place in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 20 additional nations across the globe.

The world-wide annual running event generates more than $3.5 million each year for Special Olympics, which enables more than one million children and adults with developmental disabilities to participate in sports activities that take place all year long.  

This particular run will begin today at 9 a.m., will take four days to complete and will travel nearly 150 miles to Bloomington, IL; which is the site for the state Summer Special Olympics Games. 

A kick-off ceremony is set for today at 8:30am at the Cook County Sheriff’s Boot Camp, located at 2801 S. Rockwell Avenue. 

Individuals set to speak at the ceremony include Sheriff Thomas J. Dart, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, CEO of Special Olympics Illinois, Dave Breen and Deputy Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run, Tom Reasoner. In attendance will be various Special Olympians, most of whom are relatives of various law enforcement officers.

After the torch is lit it will be handed off from Cook County Sheriff’s representatives to the Special Olympians who are in attendance.  To begin the race, law enforcement personnel will assemble and run out of the Boot Camp on a nearly 21 mile trek ending at Route 83 and Harlem Avenue in Palos Heights.

Runners, who will run various distances within the race, will include members of the Sheriff’s Police Hostage Barricade Team, the Department of Corrections Recruit Class, Boot Camp Drill Instructors, various Cook County Sheriff’s Officers and civilian personnel, along with runners from other local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Information provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office