PORT ANGELES — Law enforcement and others will gather to run the torch in support of the Special Olympics of Washington, with North Olympic Peninsula runners taking off early today.
The run will begin at 7 a.m. at Laird’s Corner. Runners will travel in 1-mile increments along Laird Road and Edgewood Drive to Tumwater Truck Route and then on to Marine Drive and downtown Port Angeles.
At 8:30 a.m., participants will meet at Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles, where Special Olympic athletes and others will help Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict carry the torch to the Old Rayonier site along the Discovery Trail.
This portion of the run will be a walk, so any who want to participate are welcome to join the procession and take a turn carrying the torch, said Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Cameron.
From the Rayonier site, the group will follow the Discovery Trail through Sequim to the intersection near Rhodefer and West Sequim Bay roads.
Another walk — open to all who want to participate — is planned up East Washington to Simdars Road, led by Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain. The group expects to be there by about 1 p.m., Cameron said.
The run continues after that along the trail to Blyn, where correction officers from the Clallam Bay Corrections Center will help run the torch along U.S. Highway 101 to the state Highway 104 exit near Discovery Bay.
Jefferson County authorities will take it from there and run to the Hood Canal Bridge, where the torch will be passed to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. That is expected at about 7 p.m.
Some of the agencies participating include the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Port Angeles Police Department, National Park Service, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Police, U.S. Border Patrol, Sequim Police Department, Jamestown S’Klallam Fisheries Enforcement, State Patrol, Department of Corrections, Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Port Townsend Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
“There are even a couple firemen who have jumped in to help cover all the miles necessary,” Cameron said.
Kitsap officers will continue the run Thursday, when the torch will arrive at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma for the start of the games Friday.
