Six new recruits for the Douglas County Sheriff's department, from left, Jessie Cheek, Michael Folks, Katie Benton, Tyler Jackson and Thad Owen, watch Thomas Hutchinson take the torch in the first leg of the law enforcement torch run for Special Olympics on Wednesday.

Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Fangohr takes the torch in the second leg Wednesday morning in the law enforcement torch run for the Special Olympics. The torch is on a weeklong, 28 county run, heading for its final destination: Wichita, where the games start Friday.

Local law enforcement officers from the Lawrence Police Department, the Kansas University Public Safety Office and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office took a 15-mile run from the Douglas County Jail to South Park to raise money for local Special Olympic athletes.

“People picked the distance they wanted to run,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Woods.

But one decided to go the distance.

“The first mile, our recruits did,” said Sgt. Ken Fangohr. “I started at mile one, so I’ve done 14 of the 15 miles.”

The 52-year-old Fangohr says he usually runs a few miles during his lunch break and he wanted the challenge of completing almost the entire course. He did have some extra incentives.

“It was the (Special Olympics) and being around a bunch of my co-workers,” he said. “It motivated me. I wanted to stay with them, see if I could keep their pace.”

The Kansas Highway Patrol escorted the runners through the county, down U.S. Highway 59 into town, across Kansas University’s campus and to South Park, their final destination and lunch spot.

“It’s another one of those occasions where we all get to come together, work together as a team … to help raise money for the Special Olympics athletes to compete in the games,” Woods said. The group raised $1,400.

And while their spirits may be high, at least one officer is waiting for his body to realize what just happened.

“I feel pretty good,” Fangohr said. “But maybe tonight I’ll be really sore.”

Special Olympics torch runs happened all over the state on Wednesday to prepare for the Kansas games’ opening ceremony on Friday in Wichita.

Last year, the local officers ended at Allen Fieldhouse. This year was South Park, but what about 2010?

“Next year, we’re planning on going from Lawrence to Ottawa,” said Woods, which adds another 7 miles to this year’s run.