Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Blistering heat did not keep runners from carrying the Flame of Hope southbound on U.S. Route 1 to the Iwo Jima Memorial at Fuller Road on the afternoon of June 11.

As the heat index reached 100 degrees, runners from the Prince William County Police Department and Marine Corps Base Quantico PMO office pounded the pavement as part of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics of Virginia.

Every June, officers carry the flame across Virginia.

“The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is a year round fund and awareness raising movement. This run is just one aspect of it,” said Ellen Head, director of development for Special Olympics Virginia. “Over the past three years, the Torch Run has raised over $1 million each year for Special Olympics Virginia.”

They hope to raise $1.25 million this year.

Traffic came to a stop as the two groups exchanged the torch in the center of the intersection.

Earlier that morning, runners started at the Iwo Jima Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and traveled 40 miles through several counties to Quantico at the end of Prince William County.

From there, the PMO officers ran about four miles to the Provost Marshals Office on Quantico.

The torch made its way to Richmond for the Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games opening ceremony on June 12 at the University of Richmond’s Robins Center, according to Head.

— Writer: cbrown@quanticosentryonline.com