Local athletes carry torch for Special Olympics

Sean O'Rourke watched over a fellow special Olympian this past weekend at the New York State games in Utica.

"He was so nervous, so jittery," O'Rourke, 33, a long-distance runner from Northport, said of his first-time Olympic teammate. But finally, O'Rourke noticed him beginning to relax and enjoy the moment.

"He just started to realize how cool everything is," said O'Rourke, who has a learning disability. "Fireworks, friendship, friendly competition. It's all so good."

Raising public awareness and spreading that so-good message are the reasons O'Rourke ran Tuesday morning in the Suffolk leg of the 2010 New York Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. The Suffolk leg started at the East Islip firehouse; the Nassau run began at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. Both ended at Farmingdale State College.

The event has three 20-mile legs in Nassau, Suffolk and the East End. The East End leg, which runs from East Hampton town hall to Montauk, is Wednesday.

About 150 law enforcement professionals ran in the two legs Tuesday.

For O'Rourke, a special Olympian since he was 16, running to raise public awareness is important personally.

"It's all about self-confidence," he said of the Special Olympics. "It's showing people who say you can't accomplish things that you actually can."

O'Rourke said competing in Special Olympics has allowed him to achieve goals he once considered impossible. "I'm married to a wonderful woman, for four years now, and I never thought I'd do that," he said. "I got through high school and I also was able to attend a special college."

O'Rourke, who works in maintenance for the Northport School District, said he now most enjoys seeing the smiling faces and expressions of joy among his teammates. It doesn't matter that he didn't win an event last week in Utica. "Their faces, that means so much," he said.

He's been to his own mountaintop, claiming a sixth-place finish in the Special Olympics World Games in Dublin in 2003.

There was another reason for running Tuesday. "It's just a beautiful day," O'Rourke said before sprinting off with the torch. "And I just love to run."