ROCHESTER N.Y. — Sgt. Brett Sobieraski, who has been a part of the Rochester Police Department for 30 years, has set the bar by running for 50 straight hours.

He began the run in Buffalo, passing through Rochester and ending near Syracuse to raise awareness and money for the 50^th anniversary of the Special Olympics in the “50 for 50” running campaign.

“You can’t really train your body to run for 50 hours. You can train your mind, but a lot of mental toughness stuff — a lot of drills,” Sobieraski.

Kayla McKeon has been involved in the Special Olympics for over a decade, and says seeing the officer’s commitment and support is uplifting.

“I feel exhilarated knowing that they’re here for us,” she said. “It felt great holding the torch with the sergeant because we are connected together in some way making the run together.”

Stacey Hengsterman leads the New York Special Olympics program and came from Albany to take part in the momentous occasion, adding, “Brett is just one of 6,000 law enforcement officials across the state that supports us every year.”

Sobieraski says through his 175-mile journey, there were high and low points, but nothing stopped him from reaching the goal.