The inaugural Williamsport Main Street Torch Run is set for 5:30 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 21, and the Penn College community is invited to join the wider community in celebrating local Special Olympics athletes, who are preparing for the 2025 Special Olympics Pennsylvania Summer Games, taking place June 5-7 in State College.
Led by law enforcement, the ceremonial run mobilizes area residents to carry the Special Olympics Flame of Hope. The event will begin at Lycoming College and end at Penn College, followed by a pep rally on the patio and parking lot of the Davie Jane Gilmour Center, under the large American flag that graces the Penn College entrance.
The run will be performed as a group at a 10-minute-per-mile pace (no walking will be permitted). To sign up to run or to purchase a Torch Run shirt, visit the Williamsport Main Street Torch Run site. Departing from Lycoming College at 5:30 p.m., the approximate 1.5-mile run will proceed south on Mulberry Street, west on East Fourth Street to West Fourth Street, then south on Maynard Street to the Penn College entrance.
The pep rally is free and open to the public. An RSVP is encouraged at this site. Runners are expected to arrive at the Davie Jane Gilmour Center at about 6 p.m. A disc jockey will welcome the Special Olympics athletes and supporting runners. Pep rally attendees can enjoy music and light snacks. Penn College Police will be participating in the pep rally.
Begun in Kansas in 1981 as the Law Enforcement Torch Run, the initiative is held throughout the country to support Special Olympics athletes and is also known as the Main Street Torch Run, as the Special Olympics Flame of Hope is carried along a town’s main street to raise funds and awareness.
