North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement officers carried a torch from just west of Port Angeles to the Kitsap County side of the Hood Canal Bridge to help raise money for the Special Olympic Summer Games that begin Friday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.
LaPush Chief of Police Bill Lyon carried the Special Olympic Game Torch on the first leg of the approximately 63-mile third annual Peninsula run from Laird’s Corner west of Port Angeles to City Pier.
“This is the first time we’ve had LaPush join us for it,” said Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron, event organizer.
“It is great we have so many helping out in this effort.”
Criminal justice agencies who participated in the torch run included the sheriff’s offices in both Clallam and Jefferson counties, the Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend police departments, and the State Patrol, National Park Service, Border Patrol, Clallam Bay Corrections Center and the Coast Guard.
“It is really such a great thing,” Cameron said.
“We did it something like 20 years ago, and then for some reason we just stopped doing it.
“But when Bill [Benedict] became [Clallam County] sheriff he thought it was a worthy cause, and we got into it again.”
Rainy weather slowed the run in the morning, Cameron said.
But by about 2 p.m., the runners had caught up to their schedule and were crossing into Jefferson County.
“We have a lot of Clallam Bay Corrections marathoners out here who really helped us catch up,” Cameron said.
“It was raining a little bit [at about 2 p.m.], but the runners all told me that it is just how they like it.
“It is actually quite warm and the rain can help cool them off.”
On the Port Angeles Waterfront Trail, Benedict led walkers with the torch to the Rayonier property at the end of Ennis Street before handing it off to be taken east to Sequim.
Cameron and a couple of other law enforcement cars followed the runners to provide support, water and to make sure they were safe — especially when running along the busy roads.
Just west of Sequim, Clallam County Sheriff’s Staff Sgt. Monty Martin and his wife, Maureen Martin, ran the torch up onto the restored trestle in Railroad Bridge Park.
On the bridge, Monty handed the torch to Sequim Police Officer Maris Turner, who carried it to a 10-legged team of runners on the Olympic Discovery Trail down Hendrickson Road: Sequim Police officers Rick Larsen, John Southard and Mike Hill, who ran alongside his K-9 partner, Chase.
On the last leg of the run, law enforcement officers and 11 members of the Jefferson County Special Olympics team carried the Special Olympics torch over the Hood Canal Bridge.
“This brings forth a tremendous amount of pride to the people who have done this,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Tony Hernandez, who ran three miles, the last mile with the Special Olympics team.
“It proves they are capable of anything they wish to accomplish.”
Hernandez was originally scheduled to hand the torch off to a canoe piloted by Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal members who would take it across the water to Kitsap County, but high winds scotched that plan.
Instead, the group ran across the bridge. The torch will continue its journey today, with Kitsap County deputies starting the relay this morning.
The runners started out on the Hood Canal Bridge twice. When they ventured out on the bridge the first time, the torch blew out.
They retraced their steps, getting off the bridge on the Jefferson County side to relight the torch.
Once again, they started out. It blew out again.
The runners decided they couldn’t battle the wind and carried it across unlit.
Along with Hernandez and the team, runners on the last leg of the Peninsula run included representatives of the Port Townsend Police Department, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and deputies with the sheriff’s department.
Members of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department also were on hand to cheer the group on.
The torch run is a fundraiser for the Special Olympics, which offers sports competition to athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The law enforcement torch run, which began in Washington state in 1982, takes the “Flame of Hope” to the Friday opening ceremonies of the Summer Games.
As part of the fundraising efforts, the group participated in a breakfast fundraiser at the Sequim Applebees, Cameron said.
That event alone raised about $1,400, which he said was some of the most raised for the statewide fundraiser.
Special Olympics T-shirts are available in sizes small through XXX large and can be pre-ordered by contacting Cameron at the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2570 or Port Angeles Police Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck at 360-417-4951.
Sequim police can be reached at 360-683-7227. Ask for Officer Turner or Lt. Sheri Crain.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz contributed to this report.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.