SANFORD — Eight Sanford Police officers laced up their sneakers this morning and started pounding the pavement. They weren’t walking a beat, but running ”“ for Special Olympics.
Sanford is the first leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run which will make its way through inland Maine to the coast and then inland again before being delivered just in time for the Special Olympics 2009 Maine Summer Games opening ceremonies, set to begin 7 p.m. Friday at the University of Maine in Orono.
The Sanford officers, including Chief Tom Connolly, were to run 7.3 miles to North Berwick, where officers there were to pick up the flame at about 9 a.m. and deliver it to Berwick. And so on.
The torch run will be picked up by six Biddeford officers at the Arundel town line on Wednesday, said Biddeford Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk.
In Sanford, organizer Det. Sarah Roberts said she’s been involved in the program for four years and running for three.
She said she’ll also take part in the final leg in Orono Friday, where a large number of law enforcement officers join together to deliver the flame to the opening ceremonies.
The Special Olympics Summer Games begin Friday and wind down Sunday.
“We raise money for Special Olympics through the run,” she said. As well, the department takes part on other fund-raisers for the Special Olympics programs.
According to Special Olympics Maine, more than $1 million has been raised since the Law Enforcement Torch Run began in 1985.
The Sanford officers were accompanied this morning by a police van that will allow those who need a break to have one, along with a South Berwick Police cruiser, making sure motorists were aware there were runners in the roadway.
“It is not a race,” said Roberts. “The important thing is to have a runner with a torch. We run as a group, but if someone needs a break, they can have one.”
Court Officer K. Blair Hodge said he’d been participating for several years.
“I enjoy it,” he said before the group started off this morning.
“It’s a good cause,” said Connolly, the chief, who is marking his first Maine Special Olympics run this year.
South Berwick dispatcher Justin Ripley was operating the cruiser behind the runners, blue lights flashing.
“North Berwick 9 a.m.; Berwick 9:55 a.m., South Berwick, 10:20 a.m., Eliot 11:15 a.m.,” he said of his schedule.
By the time the torch winds up in Orono, 700 law enforcement officers will have run the torch 900 miles, according to Special Olympics Maine.
North Berwick Police Chief Stephen Peasley said five of his officers were to run the torch to Berwick this morning.
Peasley wasn’t running this morning ”“ he was participating in a DARE graduation instead, but has run the torch in the past ”“ and knows where some of the more challenging parts of the run can be.
“Cabbage Hill just before the Berwick line is a killer,” he remembered.
— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or at twells@journaltribune.com.
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