PETALUMA (KRON) — The Special Olympics Flame of Hope arrived in the Bay Area, with Petaluma police officers participating in the 73-day torch run on Wednesday.
A team of runners from the Petaluma Police Department carried the flame on a five mile route through town. Officers on motorcycles and in patrol vehicles escorted the runners from the south end of the city to the Veterans Memorial Building on Petaluma Boulevard South.
The torch was then handed of to a team from Marin County. The Bay Area participants of the run are a part of a worldwide effort to raise awareness and money for the Special Olympics.
The Flame of Hope was ignited in a formal torch lighting ceremony in Athens, Greece back in May.
The carrying of the torch culminates with the Special Olympics World Games scheduled to take place in Los Angeles starting on July 25.