34th annual Special Olympics Torch Run goes through Columbus | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

The 34th annual Special Olympics Torch Run makes its way through Fort Benning and Columbus on Wednesday.

More than 100 Georgia law enforcement agencies including Columbus will take part in the torch run to pass the “Flame of Hope” across the state before the Summer Games opening ceremony at Emory University in Atlanta. Hosted by the Columbus Police Department, the event has soldiers from Fort Benning taking the torch to the Public Safety Center at 510 10th St. in Columbus before it is carried by local law enforcement to the Lake Oliver Marina.

Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. and an open presentation is set for 9 a.m.

From the Public Safety Center, the torch moves west on 10th Street, north on Second Avenue and east on Manchester Expressway. Runners then take the torch north on River Road and stop at the entrance of the Lake Oliver Marina.

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Lunch is hosted by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office for all volunteers on the plaza level of the Government Center.

It’s free to take part in the event as a runner. Law Enforcement Torch Run T-shirts will be available for $15 each. All proceeds go to benefit the Georgia Special Olympics.

A Special Olympics athlete will light the Olympic cauldron on Friday to start the 2017 Summer Games. About 3,000 athletes, children and adults with intellectual disabilities, will compete in track and field, aquatics, running, flag football, soccer, table tennis, track and field and volleyball.