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Rochester Police Sgt. runs for 50 hours to help Special Olympians

Brett Sobieraski/Facebook

A Rochester Police Sergeant is running a very long way this weekend in an effort to raise money for Special Olympics.

Brett Sobieraski started running on Friday from Buffalo and will run along or near the Erie Canal all the way to Syracuse, where he expects to finish up late Sunday morning.

His goal is to run for 50 hours, to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Special Olympics.

“It’s just a great, inclusive agency and there’s folks that want to compete and participating, but the funding does not always allow that, so if we can get 5, 10, 20 more athletes a chance to compete, than, this is well worth it,” Sobieraski told WXXI News.

He says he will stop about every half hour or so for some food and water, but will not be sleeping at all during that run, which will be about 200 miles long.

He expects to make a stop in the Rochester area on Scottsville Road early Saturday morning (about 7am). You can also follow the Sobieraski’s  run on his Facebook page.

As difficult as his run will be, Sobieraski says it's not the kind of challenge these Special Olympians face all through their lives.

“I think about this challenge ahead for me of 50 hours, that’s nothing (compared) to the challenges that these Special Olympians everyday, so I guess, honestly, a walk in the park compared to what they face on a daily basis.”

Sobieraski hopes to raise about $10,000 for Special Olympics, to help the athletes train and compete.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.