FLEMING ISLAND – The men in blue will be wearing purple Friday as the county prepares to send a dozen of its athletes to the Florida Special Olympics Games at Walt Disney World.

The annual Law Enforcement Torch Run will start in the Publix parking lot on Friday, April 14, at 10 a.m. The walk will cross U.S. Highway 17 to the Black Creek Bike Trail, go north on the trail to Village Square Parkway, then to Town Center Boulevard to Fleming Plantation Boulevard. After that, deputies and supporters will walk back to Publix. The total route will be 3.4 miles.

The Torch Run follows the most successful Tip-A-Cop program that will pay for as many as 15 athletes to attend the state games, organizer CCSO Sgt. Zach Cox said.

“This is just kind of getting everybody fired up ahead of the state games,” Cox said. “So our fundraiser is strictly for raising money for our Special Olympic athletes to attend the games in Orlando. The Torch Run is kind of like the county’s farewell if you will. Clay County Special Olympics will pass the torch through our county, and then it will eventually make its way to Orlando to light the state games.”

Cox said anyone could join the walk by purchasing a purple T-shirt at the grocery store.

Clay County Fire Rescue will have two ladder trucks draped over an intersection with an oversized American flag so walkers can pass underneath. It is a practice usually reserved for special occasions.

The Torch Run started in Escambia County on March 27 and will pass through all 67 Florida counties, ending up at Disney’s Wide World of Sports on May 19 for the opening of the two-day state games.