Blair County Special Olympian Garran Burget of Altoona runs along Sixth Avenue with fellow athletes and Altoona and Logan Township police officers during Thursday morning’s Torch Run. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

The Special Olympics PA 2025 Law Enforcement Torch Run arrived in Altoona Thursday morning amid a police escort and applause from gathered onlookers.

The torch, traveling from Pittsburgh to State College over a span of three days, signifies the start of the summer games taking place June 5-7.

“Our summer games are some of the largest events every year,” said Eric Cushing, Special Olympics Pennsylvania vice president of strategic partnerships. “We have about 2,000 athletes from all over (Pennsylvania).”

The Pennsylvania Special Olympics is an event that “brings entire communities together,” Cushing said.

“It touches every community, every facet of Pa.,” Cushing said. “There are a lot of police officers that are truly amazing, that have set all this up for us.”

Cushing said while the torch symbolizes the Special Olympics, those within the games call law enforcement “the guardians of the flame.”

“It wouldn’t be possible without them leading the way,” Cushing said.

One of those “guardians” is longtime Altoona Police Sgt. Matthew Plummer, who accompanied the torch on its entire 150-mile journey. For him, the decision to give back is “more personal than professional.”

“I actually have been involved since I was a kid, because I have a close family member who was a Special Olympics athlete,” Plummer said.

An Altoona officer for more than 17 years, Plummer said it gave “great opportunities to give back to the athletes.”

The leg through Altoona saw about 30 officers with the Altoona and Logan Township police departments running alongside Special Olympic athletes for about seven miles from the 58th Street Sheetz to the Greenwood Sheetz.

“It’s just a great event and I’m proud to be a part of it,” Plummer said. “It was really awesome today, my family member that I’m really close with was at the Greenwood Sheetz waiting for me to finish.”

The Altoona Police Department itself has been participating in the event for about a decade, Sgt. Patrick Tomassetti said.

“It gives us a great sense of camaraderie, as far as working as a team to raise money for a great cause,” Tomassetti said.

The APD Facebook page shared a photo of its runners, saying they were able to raise $1,877. It was shared by the Logan Township Police Department, which wrote “what a great event, supporting an even greater cause with our best friends from over the hill.”

Even Sheetz got in on the fun, with public affairs manager Nick Ruffner saying that while their stores “have served as a pit stop for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for quite some time,” this year was their first “as the primary sponsor of the event.”

“Sheetz is a proud partner of the Special Olympics in every state where we operate, including here in Pennsylvania, where our partnership goes back more than 30 years,” Ruffner said. “We join with our friends at Special Olympics Pennsylvania in recognizing the service of law enforcement officers from across the Commonwealth and, most especially, remembering those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We wish all the athletes the best of luck in the Summer Games next month.”

Plummer was especially happy with the turnout for the run, saying the Altoona Police Department was represented well and “two full blocks of students and faculty” from the Altoona Area High School turned out to cheer them on.

“It’s really inspirational to have that support in Altoona,” Plummer said.

What impressed him were the two athletes that ran the entire seven miles between Sheetz stores, keeping pace with the officers.

“Those two athletes are in better shape than most of our department,” Plummer said. “They think of us as their heroes, but honestly, they’re our heroes. And that’s why we do it.”

Cushing said Penn State is still looking for volunteers for the games. Those interested should visit specialolympicspa.org/become-a-volunteer.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.