Community celebrates athletes' dedication
Larry Mays and Jason Reinhold carry the Flame of Hope down Olive Avenue as they near Sandpoint City Hall for a ceremony celebrating Special Olympic athletes. A team of 130 runners and athletes arrived to a warm welcome with community members turning out along the route to cheer the athletes on as well as at a later ceremony at City Hall. (Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER)
SANDPOINT - Athletes from all over the world braved the cold, face-numbing weather to run the Special Olympics Flame of Hope through Sandpoint Thursday.
Droves of enthusiastic community members flooded the streets and later packed City Hall for a ceremony to celebrate the athletes as they prepare for the upcoming 2009 World Winter Games in Boise.
Beginning in Athens, Greece, last year, the Flame of Hope has traveled 37,000 miles through five continents as part of the Global Law Enforcement Torch Run.
The run, which brings together law enforcement agents and Special Olympians from all over the world, will end in Boise in early February for the opening ceremony of the games.
The 130-person team of runners carried the torch on a half-mile run through Sandpoint, ending at City Hall for a torch run ceremony.
Led by Police Chief Mark Lockwood, the ceremony was attended by the Sandpoint High School choir, a local Boy Scout troop and a bevy of exuberant Special Olympics supporters.
After welcoming the torch runners to Sandpoint, Lockwood spoke directly to the athletes in attendance.
"I consider you the greatest athletes that the world has, your willingness to compete against all odds is humbling to me," he said. "The pride and accomplishment in which you participate through giving and achieving your personal best is an inspiration to us all."
Detective Larry Mays of the Port Authority New York/New Jersey Police Department has been involved with the Special Olympics for years. He and the thousands of other law enforcement officers who take part in the games do so because it is their nature to help, but also because of the feeling they get being around the athletes, Mays said.
"Special Olympics athletes have enlightened my life 1,000 times over," Mays said. "Thank you so much for what you do."
The ceremony's final speaker, Jason Reinhold of Michigan, is a 50-time medal winner in events ranging from soccer to track and field.
While the Special Olympics has grown tremendously from its humble beginnings in the early 1960s, there is still room to grow, both in terms of athletes and fans, Reinhold said.
"The more people get involved, the happier we'll be," he said. "Just go out there and inspire more people to get involved."