The torch run is a tradition of the Special Olympics first launched in 1981 by Richard LaMunyon, then chief of police in the U.S. state of Kansas. Taiwan’s NPA joined the tradition in 1999 in cooperation with the nation’s Special Olympics Committee. The international association was founded in 1968 with support from the Kennedy family.

At the start of the latest run inside the national police headquarters Saturday morning, NPA Director-General Wang Cho-chiun said police from all over the country would contribute to the cause by spreading the news about the program and helping to raise funds.

The cast of the Public Television Service drama series “Black and White” about the police also showed up at the race, talking to Special Olympics athletes and lighting a flame at the end of the event.

Director Tsai Yueh-hsun said that if he continued to make shows about the police, he would prefer to include their charity drives and social activities in the storyline.

Actress Sonia Sui praised the athletes for overcoming their impairments and training even harder than other sports people. It was quite a feat for them to compete overseas and achieve so much success on Taiwan’s behalf, she said.

The cast and director of the drama signed T-shirts which would be auctioned on the Special Olympics’ web site to help raise money for the team.