Schedules are made, bags are being packed and the countdown has begun

It is hard to believe that I am just a few short days away from leaving Kelli, my family, friends and Oklahoma to be a part of an amazing opportunity to be a part of the 2011 LETR Final Leg for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

It seems like forever ago when I received the phone call from Mike Teem on St. Patricks day asking me to be a part of the documentation team, part of me wanted to say "Mike it is St. Patrick's Day not Aprils Fools Day" not believing that I was being asked to go to Greece.

I am not going to lie, I am anxious about leaving home for just two days under a month but I am so excited about the journey that I am about to embark on. It is amazing to think that I am going to visit not only Greece but Turkey as well, two countries so rich in history and beautiful in scenery. I am excited to share this with Kelli when she joins me after my Final Leg duties are done in Greece so that we can share this experience together.  My flight from Oklahoma City will take me through Newark, New Jersey where I will get to see fellow 2009 Final Leg Torch Runner Larry Mays and his family prior to boarding a plane bound for Athens, Greece. I am excited to see them even though it is only for a few hours during a long layover.

As each day comes one day closer to me leaving it seems we receive an email with more details of our journey with the Flame of Hope. These details include cities the team will visit, where we will stay or eat each night. It is amazing to me the logistics and planning that go into a Final Leg prior to the teams arrival and as we begin to spread the message of not only Special Olympics, Law Enforcement Torch Run but also acceptance for who we are but also acceptance of others as well as to embrace those differences. I appreciate your support and the time that you took to read this blog, I will update it as much as possible and as much as internet access allows. I am truly blessed with an amazing family and support group, Thank you.

Greece/Turkey Bound

Hello everyone, I want to thank you for your support of Special Olympics, Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics and taking the time to read my blog as I travel across Greece and Turkey for the journey of a life time to take part in the 2011 LETR Final Leg to the World Special Olympics Games in Athens, Greece.

My journey will take me from Oklahoma City early on the 5th of June arriving in Athens Monday June 6th and will complete my Final Leg Duties on June 27th. This will be the third LETR Final Leg that I have been apart of. The previous two I was a runner (2009 Idaho, USA) and a team leader (2010 Nebraska, USA.) Every time I have been asked to be a part of a Final Leg I am shocked more than the first. I know the history of the Final Leg and I know what it means to be a part of one. This Final Leg I will be a part of the support and documentation team.

I received a phone call from Final Leg coordinator Mike Teem on St. Patrick's Day and was asked to assist Dave and Andrea Kramer from Idaho to be a photographer/videographer to document the Final Leg team journey. I was completely caught off guard when I received the call from Mike and still can not believe that I am going.  For any of you who know me you know how passionate I am about our Special Olympics Athletes and how much I enjoy as well as believe LETR.  I also enjoy telling stories through pictures and video, so being selected to not only be a part of the Final Leg Support and Documentation Team but have the ability to share the story through pictures and video is a huge honor to me. I am assigned to route one which you can ready about our route below and some of the cities we will visit.

Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) is the largest grass roots fundraiser for Special Olympics annualy, Oklahoma LETR raised over $300,000 last year with over $34 million raised globaly last year. I first became involved helping my father when he started our departments first golf tournament in 1992 when I was 12, once I joined the department I became heavily involved in our fundraising efforts. I have assisted in planning the 2007 Internationl Conference in Oklahoma City which was attended by more that 1,000 officers from all over the world, cops-on-top of a doughnut shops, golf tournaments, polar plunges, tip a cops and many more functions. It is truely an honor to be selected to not only represnt my department but Oklahoma in the Final Leg. I hope you enjoy reading about the Final Leg teams journey across .


Final Leg runners from around the world are selected to represent their Torch Run and Special Olympics Programs.  Ten Special Olympics athletes have been selected to be a part of the Final Leg Team in 2011 as has been the case since 2001 to indeed make this event a unified Torch Run!  To symbolize the significant contribution of law enforcement and the inclusion of Special Olympics athletes in this unified Torch Run, the Final Leg Team will conduct extensive runs and ceremonies in all of the Host Town Program communities and in many other towns throughout Greece to heighten awareness of Special Olympics and the World Games. The Final Leg Team will safely deliver the “Flame of Hope” to the 2011 World Summer Games Opening Ceremony in Athens on June 25th.

When and Where
The 2011 Final Leg will precede the Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Athens, Greece.  From June 9th through June 25th, the Final Leg Team will conduct extensive runs and ceremonies in all of the Host Town Program communities and in many other towns throughout Greece. The Final Leg Team will also be conducting runs and ceremonies throughout Cyprus and Istanbul.

Lighting the FlameThe Lighting of the Flame for the Special Olympics World Games will take place at the Sacred Site of Pnyx, opposite the Acropolis of Athens, in Greece on the 9th of June at 1100, presided over by the President of the Hellenic Republic and many officials. In keeping with the tradition, the rays of the sun light the Flame and the entire ceremony will take place along the lines of the original Torch Lighting of the Olympics Games.
Following the Flame Lighting Ceremony, the Final Leg Team will pass in front of the Acropolis, the Herodeios Theatre, the Museum of Acropolis, the Parliament and the Presidential Palace, where a Welcome Ceremony will take place. On Friday the 10th of June, the Torch Runners split into three teams and the journey of the Flame begins.

• Route 1 (THE ROUTE I WILL ASSIGNED TO) begins from Athens and will cross all of Eastern Greece and the islands of Sporades, passing through the border station of Kastanies to reach Constantinople (Istanbul) on the 20th of June. During the 10-day route on Greek soil, the Flame of Hope will visit over 47 cities where local authorities will hold welcoming ceremonies. In Constantinople (Istanbul), the cultural crossroad between Europe and Asia, the National Special Olympics Committee of Turkey will prepare a warm welcome for the Torch Runners, with routes through the most central parts of Constantinople (Taxim, Istiklal, Galata Bridge, Saint Sophia’s Church, the Blue Mosque, etc).

• Route 2 will cross all of Western Greece as far as the Tristate border, the Ionian Islands and Peloponnese, passing through Ancient Olympia, the birth city of the Olympic Games.  Route 2 will visit 58 cities in 12 days.

• Route 3 team members will depart for Cyprus, an island bound to Greece through important historic and cultural ties. In Cyprus, the Torch Runners will spend 2 whole days spreading the message of the Games in many cities on the island (Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, Nicossia) as guests of the National Special Olympics Committee of Cyprus. The team will then begin its route of the Greek Islands, via Athens. Over 10 days the Flame will visit more than 30 cities.
On the 21st of June, Route 3 will arrive in Rhodes, the island that from the 20th of June will host the largest number of athletes through the Host Town program.
On the 22nd of June, the Flame will pass in front of all the hotels accommodating athletes, destined for the city of Lindos where a Welcome Ceremony will take place.
On the afternoon of the 23rd of June, the Torch Runners will pass in front of the most important areas of the city (the Mayor’s office, the Old City, the Castle of the Knights) ending up at the Ancient Stadium where a welcome ceremony will take place in front of all the hosted Athletes as well as many Greek and foreign officials visiting Rhodes for this special event.

On the 24th of June, the entire Final Leg Team will be reunited back in Athens and will run in front of all the host centers for Athletes where Welcome Ceremonies will take place. At 18.30 the Flame will reach the Acropolis where it will remain overnight, in front of the Erechtheion with the honorary contingent of the Presidential Guard.

On the 25th of June, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Games, the Torch Runners will visit the Mayor of Athens for a Welcome Ceremony in front of the Mayor’s office attended by the Mayor and the Town Council members. Passing through the main streets of Athens, the Flame will finally reach the Kallimarmaron Panathenaikon Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Games.

I am truly blessed and honored to be a part of yet another Final Leg, thank you again for your support.