Law enforcement stretched their legs along the sidewalks in the square, the morning sun cutting through the air and the dewy grass sticking to their running shoes.
The group of law enforcement poses together before the torch run begins.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER / THE PAPER
Just after 7:50 a.m., the officers gathered in the street and began the run to Patton High School, carrying the Flame of Hope torch on Friday, May 8, to commence the Special Olympics events for the day.
“We’ve been doing this since I’ve been here, twenty-something years,” said Ryan Lander, chief of the Morganton Department of Public Safety (MDPS). “We used to go all the way to the Hickory Police Department. It’d be like a whole half day.”
Officer Mark Chapman carried the American flag from the beginning of the relay past Mull Grocery on Enola Road.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER / THE PAPER
The 3.5-mile run started at the corner of South Sterling and East Meeting streets, circling the square once before trotting through town as an MDPS vehicle led the way.
Lt. Jacob Reynolds of the Burke County Sheriff's Office carried the torch in a later stretch of the run.
JACOB CHRISTOPHER / THE PAPER
At each intersection, the car stopped in front of traffic to safely guide the runners through. They made their way past Broughton Hospital, turning right onto Enola Road and keeping a steady pace all the way toward the track of the high school.
The Burke County stop was one of six across the state, which spans 2,000 miles and ends on May 29, when the Circle of Honor and cauldron are lit at the 2026 Special Olympics NC Summer Games Opening Ceremony in Raleigh.
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