by Malcolm Butler
Friday morning around 9:30 a.m. a pack of local and state first responders came racing down Tech Drive, taking a hard right between the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex and the Robert Caruthers Soccer Complex on the Louisiana Tech campus.
And as the made their way through the entry gates and onto the running surface at the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex, they were greeted by cheers, smiles and high fives from this year’s volunteers and participants for the Special Olympics.
A total of 27 law enforcement officers from the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office, Ruston Police Department, Louisiana Probation and Parole, Louisiana State Police and the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office participated in this year’s Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run.
“This is one of our favorite events of the year,” said Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Landon Hunt. “It helps raise money for our local Special Olympics, but more importantly, it fosters community engagement and encourages widespread support for our local students with intellectual disabilities.”
Hunt, who has participated in this Torch Run for a number of years, said that each law enforcement officers who participates pays a registration fee with all of those funds going directly to the local Special Olympics.
The group started their run on Friday morning at Dubach Town Hall, and divided into groups that took turns carrying the flag over the 13-mile trek into Lincoln Parish and to the Jim Mize Track and Field Complex for the opening ceremonies.
“The true heroes are the student athletes,” said Hunt. “Their strength, courage, resilience and determination are what motivates our folks to run and we are so grateful to have the opportunity to serve them.”
