5K Torch Run salutes Special Olympics

Advertiser Staff

A thousand law enforcement officers from 15 countries will take to the streets of Waikiki today to honor the Special Olympics movement.

The 2002 International Conference for Law Enforcement Torch Runs for Special Olympics opened in Thursday at the Sheraton Waikiki, and continued yesterday with an awards luncheon and an address by Loretta Claiborne, a Special Olympics champion runner who was born disabled, partially blind and mildly retarded. Claiborne, 48, was unable to walk or talk until age 4, but eventually began to run, and has placed twice among the top 100 women in the Boston Marathon.

The 5-kilometer torch run will begin at 11 a.m. today at the Sheraton Waikiki, circle the Dillingham Fountain at Kapi'olani Park and end at the Waikiki police substation.

The conference will conclude with an awards banquet tomorrow with guest speaker Bob Love, the former Chicago Bulls star whose stuttering disability reduced him to dishwasher jobs after his retirement from basketball. At the age of 45, Love found a speech therapist who helped him to learn to speak clearly; he is now a sought-after public speaker.