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For Immediate Release
Date:               June 21, 2006

Oklahoma Torch Runner Heads to National Games

Corporal John Beech to Participate in Torch Run Final Leg

Oklahoma City , Okla.      Special Olympics Oklahoma has announced that Del City Police Department’s Corporal John Beech will participate in the first-ever United States Law Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR) Final Leg team. Law enforcement officers and Special Olympics athletes from around the country will partner during this event to carry the "Flame of Hope" from Soldier Field in Chicago to the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa – home of the inaugural Special Olympics USA National Games, July 2-7, 2006. The "Flame of Hope" symbolizes the courage, hope and determination represented by Special Olympics athletes.

Corporal Beech is one of more than 100 participants selected for the Final Leg team, which includes 60 law enforcement officer runners, nine Special Olympics athlete runners, and 40 support team members. Torch Runners who have worked hard for Special Olympics and earned the chance to participate will represent Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia throughout the run.

The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Torch Run Executive Committee nominated Corporal Beech to carry the Flame of Hope to National Games. Corporal John Beech has been involved with the Law Enforcement Torch Run in Oklahoma for more than eight years.  Corporal Beech has participated in countless Oklahoma Torch Run fundraising events for Special Olympics Oklahoma. Beech first met the great Special Olympics Oklahoma Athletes at Del City High School while working there on assignment from the Del City Police Department.

Beech departs for Chicago on June 23. The Final Leg event kicks off on Saturday, June 24 with a "Flame of Hope" Lighting Ceremony at Soldier Field in Chicago, home of the first international Special Olympics Games in 1968. The flame will travel through Illinois to the Mississippi River where, on the evening of June 25, a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter will transport the flame across the river from Rock Island, Ill., to Davenport, Iowa. From June 26 through July 1 the flame will make its way through Iowa, with the run concluding in Ames on July 2 as the Olympic cauldron is ignited at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games.

A complete list of final leg team members, including their home states, is available online at http://www.2006nationalgames.org/news/factsheets.php.

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About Special Olympics Oklahoma
Special Olympics Oklahoma is a privately funded non-profit organization, providing year-round sports training and athletic competition to more than 9,200 children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Oklahoma.  For more information about Special Olympics Oklahoma visit www.sook.org or call 800-722-9004 for more information.

About the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games
From July 2 – 7, 2006, the inaugural Special Olympics USA National Games will take place in Ames, Iowa, on the Iowa State University campus. Organizers expect more than 3,000 Special Olympic athletes and 30,000 spectators from across the country to participate in and attend the event. For more information, please visit www.2006nationalgames.org.

Contacts:         
Kim Hoppers, Special Events Coordinator
Special Olympics Oklahoma
405.670.3456

Special Olympics Oklahoma
6835 S. Canton Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74136-3429
+1 (918) 481-1234
Fax: +1 (918) 496-1515

Oklahoma City Office:
3701 SE 15th Street
Del City, Oklahoma 73115
+1 (405) 670-3456
Fax: +1 (405) 670-3456