Tucson, Arizona - This year’s 2018 Law Enforcement Torch Run for Arizona Special Olympics kicked off for Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector in Vail on Monday morning but will continue through May 5 within other state law enforcement organizations.

Members of various BP stations gathered to run a section of the Torch Run through the town of Vail, Arizona

Members of various BP stations
gathered to run a section of the Torch
Run through the town of Vail, Arizona

The Law Enforcement Torch Run consists of numerous runs held throughout the U.S. and around the world every year to raise awareness to support for the Special Olympic Games and their programs statewide.

The program, which began in 1981, provides local law enforcement agencies an opportunity to volunteer in the communities they serve. In Arizona, each agency participates in different segments of a long journey to pass seven “Flame of Hope” torches around the state to the final destination in Mesa.

Runners from multiple Tucson Sector stations joined with children from various backgrounds while other students and teachers cheered them along a 5-mile leg west from Vail along Mary Ann Cleveland Road.

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of Special Olympics.