You may have noticed a group of runners taking to the streets Friday morning in Bossier City and Shreveport, having a good time as they made their way through the streets of the cities.
It
was the Northwest Louisiana law enforcement officers who hit the
streets of both parishes to kick off the 2019 Law Enforcement Torch Run
for Special Olympics Louisiana.
Bossier Sheriff's Office deputies and members of the Steve Hoyle Intensive Substance Abuse Program at the Bossier Parish Correctional Facility joined other area law enforcement runners on a three-mile run that began at the Bossier Civic Center, headed down POW-MIA Boulevard, north on Benton Road, and west on East Texas Street across the Texas Street Bridge into downtown Shreveport where they met with the Caddo runners.
Officers
and deputies from agencies in Caddo Parish had begun their run from the
Caddo Correctional Center, and they traveled east on Hearne Avenue,
then south on North
Market Street into downtown Shreveport to Texas Avenue. Even some of
the Special Olympic athletes joined in on the run.
Both
groups proceeded down Texas Avenue to the courthouse where they were
joined by a number of Special Olympians and local dignitaries for the 9
a.m. ceremony, which
featured a reading of a joint proclamation from Bossier City Mayor
Lorenz Walker and Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins.
Once
the ceremony concluded, some of the runners continued the torch run on a
12-mile stretch that took them from the courthouse in downtown
Shreveport and all the way
down Youree Drive until they got to the Relay Station in south
Shreveport.
The annual run raises money for Special Olympics Louisiana and promotes this year's Summer Games.
The law enforcement runners will carry the State Special Olympics torch "Flame of Hope" from Northwest Louisiana and will pass it off to runners from other law enforcement agencies all along the route as it makes its way to its final destination in Hammond in time for the start of the state games next weekend.
(Video by Lt. Bill Davis & Dep. Rod White, Bossier Sheriff's Office; stills by Lt. Davis)
