Law enforcement officers will carry the Special Olympics torch across the North Olympic Peninsula today.
The Peninsula leg of the annual Torch Run will start at Laird’s Corner west of Port Angeles at 7 a.m. today, continue through Clallam County, be picked up in Jefferson County and end with a final dash across the Hood Canal Bridge to Kitsap County.
That will happen sometime between 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Almost every law enforcement agency in Clallam and Jefferson counties will be represented in the Peninsula run, said Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Cameron.
“It’s an opportunity for our law enforcement officers to give back to their community. And they have a lot of fun doing it,” Cameron said.
Agencies include sheriff’s offices from Clallam and Jefferson counties, and Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend police departments, the State Patrol, Olympic National Park, area tribal police, the Coast Guard, the Clallam Bay Corrections Center and the Border Patrol.
Officers are carrying the torch in support of Special Olympics teams of athletes from both counties.
The Clallam County athletes are called the Orcas, while the Jefferson County team is known as the Warriors.
On Friday, athletes from both teams will join others from throughout the state at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the opening ceremonies of the annual summer games of Special Olympics Washington.
Special Olympics Washington provides sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Nearly 2,700 Special Olympics athletes will compete over three days, ending Sunday, at the summer games in swimming, soccer, track and field, power-lifting and cycling.
The torch will be carried by a Special Olympics athlete and law enforcement representative who will then light the official “Flame of Hope” cauldron for the summer games.
About 45 runners will escort the torch across the Peninsula.
“The prison is a big help,” Cameron said. “They have a group of marathoners that they send us.”
Today’s section of the run will begin at about 7 a.m. at Laird’s Corner, with runners taking the torch along Edgewood Drive to Tumwater Truck Route and then to downtown Port Angeles to City Pier.
At about 8:30 a.m., Clallam County Sheriff Benedict will lead those who want to walk — including Special Olympics athletes — on a stroll on the Olympic Discovery Trail to the Rayonier site to give many a chance to carry the torch along the way.
From there, the run will follow the Discovery Trail east to Rhodefer Road, where a second walk for Sequim-area participants, led by State Patrol troopers, will begin at about 1 p.m.
At the Longhouse Market & Deli in Blyn, the Torch Run will take to the highway, Cameron said, with runners carrying the torch alongside U.S. Highway 101 and then state Highway 104 in Jefferson County.
At South Point Road and Highway 104, the torch will be handed off to Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez, who, accompanied by Port Townsend police officers and others, will pick up Special Olympics athletes and cross the Hood Canal Bridge.
Hernandez said the timing can vary, from about 4:30 p.m. at the earliest to about 7 p.m. at the latest.
He will hand off to the Kitsap County authorities, who will resume the run Thursday.
He expects between six and 12 Special Olympians and as many as 10 law enforcement officers for this last segment of the Peninsula run.
“We run the last leg with a motorcade across the bridge,” he said.
The area has been “very supportive of this program through their patience with the Torch Run along the roads and their donations at the Tip-A-Cop events in the fall,” Cameron said.
T-shirt sales have taken in more than $1,000, and Tip-A-Cop raised more than $2,500 in four hours for Special Olympics, he said.
“That’s really good for this area,” Cameron added.