Los Alamos police invite community to Torch Run for Special Olympics

Los Alamos police are inviting the community to join the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run on Thursday, May 28, a visible fundraiser that links local officers, residents and Special Olympics athletes through a public run from the police department to Buffalo Thunder Resort.

Runners will gather at 7 a.m. at the Los Alamos Police Department, with the run starting at 7:30 a.m. sharp. The route is set to finish at Buffalo Thunder Resort around 11 a.m., with a torch handoff at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will be provided for participants, and Torch Run T-shirts are required for runners.

The shirts cost $25, and proceeds go to Special Olympics New Mexico. Shirt orders are being handled through Det. Cindy Garcia at 505-709-5781, giving local participants a direct way to sign up before the event. Because the start point is in Los Alamos and the finish is at Buffalo Thunder, the run keeps the county at the center of a regional tradition that reaches beyond its borders.

Special Olympics New Mexico says it serves more than 3,700 athletes statewide and offers year-round training and competition in 11 Olympic-style sports. The statewide Torch Run is even larger, drawing more than 500 law enforcement personnel from more than 60 federal, military, state, county and local agencies in a 1,600-mile relay that culminates at the Special Olympics New Mexico State Summer Games in Albuquerque.

This year’s State Summer Games are scheduled for May 29 through May 31 at UNM Track and Field Stadium and The Fieldhouse, placing the Los Alamos run just ahead of one of the organization’s biggest annual events. The Torch Run movement dates to June 5, 1981, when it was first launched in Wichita, Kansas, and it has grown into a long-running effort to raise awareness and funds while promoting acceptance and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.

For Los Alamos, the event also underscores how the police department uses public-facing community events to build trust outside the enforcement role. With officers and residents running the same course in support of Special Olympics, the Torch Run remains one of the clearest ways the department connects its badge to a charitable cause that has statewide reach.