Employees from the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility carried the “Flame of Hope” from Larned to Great Bend on Wednesday in anticipation of the Special Olympics Summer Games. After reaching the edge of town, the LCMHF crew caught a ride to Brit Spaugh Park, where they joined members of The Storm Special Olympics team and Barton County law enforcement for a parade down Main Street to the courthouse.
It is expected that 950 officers from over 95 agencies will carry the torch through 30 Kansas counties as they travel some 1,500 miles, according to information from the Law Enforcement Torch Run.
Law enforcement officers, along with Brayden Hugunin of Burlington, Most Inspirational Athlete of 2013, will light the cauldron to officially open the Summer Games in front of over 3,000 athletes, coaches and fans of Special Olympics on Friday.
 Locally, the run started at 8 a.m. Wednesday at Larned’s Schnack Park. Ten men and women from the correctional facility ran in formation approximately 2 miles from the park to Broadway in downtown Larned. James Graham, the spokesman for the group, said they also had two drivers. As they got on U.S. 56/K-156 in Larned, they continued in a relay with each member running half a mile or a mile until they reached the bridge on the southwest corner of Great Bend, approximately 24 miles.
In Great Bend, the team met with families and athletes of The Storm, their coach Jim Boehnke and Barton County law enforcement officers. The torch and a banner for The Storm were carried to the Barton County Courthouse to conclude this leg of the torch run. The Storm is made up of athletes from Barton, Pawnee, Rice, Rush and Stafford counties.
Detective Heather Smith from the Great Bend Police Department said that Barton County law enforcement didn’t continue the run to Hutchinson as in years past, but officers here did continue the tradition of raising money for the Special Olympics Kansas programs through T-shirt sales. Barton County officers are challenged to raise an amount in dollars equal to their badge number, plus $1. Smith’s badge number is 324.
The LCMHF team  also raised money by selling T-shirts, said Karlene Buechman, one of its two drivers.
T-shirts may still be ordered by calling Buechman at the correctional facility, 620-285-8093, or Smith at the GBPD, 793-4120.
Members of the Larned team included drivers Buechman and Anthony Moore, and runners James Graham, Kathy Graham, Brooke Garland, Kristen Demel, Brandon Miller, Wayne Gore, Tommy Loomis, Jacob Ford, John Pritchett and Anthony Lemuz.
  The Law Enforcement Torch Run began in Wichita in 1981 with six runners and has grown to an international program that involves thousands of law enforcement personnel raising millions of dollars annually to benefit Special Olympics programs in the United States and abroad. Officers volunteer hundreds of hours each year and in 2013 raised $451,482 in support of Special Olympics Kansas programs.
Details of times and routes are available online at www.kansastorchrun.org. Individuals can support the Torch Run by making a secure donation on the website or contact Jana Fornelli, 913-236-9290, ext. 107.