Special Olympics Pennsylvania will kick off its 36th annual Fall Festival this weekend with the 15th annual Unified Fall Festival Torch Run, presented by the Tri-State Toyota Dealers.
The Torch Run is a 28-mile non-competitive run consisting of 18 legs from Courtyard Philadelphia South at the Navy Yard to Villanova University.
Hundreds of runners representing law enforcement officers, Special Olympics PA athletes, Unified student partners, event sponsors, civic leaders, and many other members of the community will participate and gather for a brief ceremony before they begin the long and inspiring 28-mile journey to Villanova.
The run will be held on Friday, Nov. 1, and begins at 9:25 a.m. at Courtyard Philadelphia South at the Navy Yard, arriving at Villanova University at 3 p.m. A complete map of the Torch Run’s route can be found online.
This year features record-shattering participation and support: 24 different law enforcement agencies, over 225 participants and nearly $60,000 raised.
The 28-mile run will be broken up into 18 segments — ranging from a half-mile to 3½-mile legs — with participants running their segment before passing the torch off to the next group.
The Unified run will kick off at Courtyard Philadelphia South in the Navy Yard before weaving its way throughout South and downtown Philadelphia and into University City/West Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Art Museum.
After traversing nearly 13 miles of the city, the run heads west via MLK Boulevard/West River Drive into Bala Cynwyd and through the heart of the Main Line to Villanova.
Kickoff program speakers and guests include emcee SOPA athlete Gabe Davis; Tri-State Toyota Dealers President Paul Muller; SOPA President and CEO Matt Aaron; Bob White, board chair of Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation; state Attorney General Michelle Henry; Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel (tentative); and Philadelphia Eagles mascot, Swoop.
Participating law enforcement teams include Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Department of Homeland Security, Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Office of State Inspector General, Philadelphia Sheriff Department, University of Pennsylvania Police Department, Drexel University police, Upper Darby police, ATF Philadelphia Office, FBI Philadelphia Office, Pennsylvania State Police, Lower Merion Police Department, Upper Merion Police Department, Radnor Police Department, West Chester PD, the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Villanova University Police Department and more.
The Torch Run sponsors include The Tri-State Toyota Dealers, Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation, Haverford Trust, Colligas Family Markets (ShopRite) and more.
Special Olympics Pennsylvania provides year-round training and competition in 21 Olympic-type sports to more than 15,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities or closely related developmental disabilities.
For more information about joining “the inclusion revolution,” visit www.specialolympicspa.org.
