
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406090508 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: D3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH

TORCH A TOWN CLOSER TO SPECIAL GAMES

{LEAD} They ran the last leg in formation, sweating but proud. Then they passed the torch.

On Wednesday, 65 law-enforcement officers, Coast Guardsmen and National Park Service rangers from the Eastern Shore took part in their first Torch Run to benefit the Special Olympics. They brought the torch 122 miles from Assateague Island to the south side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, where they passed it to Virginia Beach police.

{REST} Luckily, they only had to run about 25 of those miles. Some ran all 25 miles, and others ran shorter distances. They drove the rest.

``We do it for the kids, for the Special Olympics kids,'' said Lt. Jack Collins with the Virginia Beach police. ``The run is our way of showing that we care about them.''

Today, about 80 Virginia Beach officers will run a total of 12.5 miles to pass the torch to Norfolk police. Then, 165 Norfolk officers are scheduled to run four miles to pass the torch to Portsmouth and Chesapeake police. From there it will travel toward Richmond, being carried by other law-enforcement officers.

By Friday, the torch should be at the University of Richmond to help celebrate the opening of this year's Special Olympics Summer Games.

This Special Olympics torch is one of five on Virginia roads this week. About 3,200 law-enforcement officers across the state are running a total of 3,000 miles to bring torches from Hampton Roads, Fairfax, the northern and southern Shenandoah Valley, and from Southside Virginia. In all, Virginia police officers have raised $260,000 for the Special Olympics this year.

On the Eastern Shore, officers raised more than $14,000 by getting residents to sponsor runners. Lt. John Howton of the Portsmouth Police Department, who first contacted Eastern Shore police to see if they wanted to run, said the response there, and the excitement level, were excellent.

The only really odd thing about Wednesday's Torch Run was the fact that the torch was never lighted.

``We don't light the torch for safety reasons,'' said one police officer. ``We burned off a few eyebrows a few years back.''

by CNB