KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ofc. Keegan Hughes of the Blue Springs Police Department will start his run from St. Louis on March 23. Hughes will run 30 miles a day until he reaches Kauffman Stadium where he will deliver the ball for the first pitch of the Royals game on March 31.
Ofc. Tom Wagstaff of the Independence Police Department is throwing out the first pitch at the game. Wagstaff is recovering after being injured in the line of duty.
Along with delivering that ball, Hughes is also honoring officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
"These officers and these firefighters killed in the line of duty need to be remembered,” said Hughes.
Hughes is adding one more to the list.
He will be honoring Ofc. Gary Michael and Ofc. Christopher Morton, both of the Clinton Police Department.
Michael died in August and Morton died on Tuesday night.
"These guys were responding to an emergency call somebody needed help and now one of them... a family doesn't have their son or their father,” said Hughes.
The money Hughes raises will go towards Answering the Call, an organization that supports officers who have been injured and families of officers who have died.
Hughes has trained for many races to raise money for police charities but this will be his longest run yet. Hughes said it will take 9 days to complete the 290 miles.
"It's kind of hard though because you can't really train to stack 30 mile days on top of each other,” said Hughes.
If you would like to donate to Answering the Call you can follow this link.
