Deputies and cadets from the Adams County Sheriff's Office are training to haul a 130,000-pound United Airlines aircraft across the tarmac at Denver International Airport later this month, part of a statewide fundraising push for Special Olympics Colorado. The agency says it is aiming to raise $2,800 ahead of the event, which pits Colorado law enforcement teams against each other in a timed pull for charity.
The event, known this year as the 2026 Smile Generation Plane Pull presented by United Airlines, is scheduled for Saturday, August 29, at the United Airlines Hangar at Denver International Airport, located at 27300 East 98th Ave. According to the Adams County Sheriff's Office, teams of up to 25 participants will pull the aircraft 12 feet across the tarmac, competing for the fastest time. Per Special Olympics Colorado, teams must raise a minimum of $1,250 to compete, while individuals without a full roster can join by raising at least $100, and squads short of 25 members are supplemented on event day by volunteer plane pullers as long as the fundraising threshold is met.
Special Olympics Colorado calculates that every $264 raised through events like the Plane Pull funds a full year of sports and healthy living programming for one athlete, per the organization. By that measure, the sheriff's office's $2,800 target would support roughly 10 athletes for a year. All money raised goes toward sports training, competitions, leadership programs, and free health screenings, with no cost to Special Olympics athletes or their families, according to the organization, which notes it provided nearly 2,000 free athlete health screenings in 2024 alone.
A Statewide Mission Built on Local Law Enforcement
Special Olympics Colorado currently serves more than 28,000 to 30,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities across four statewide regions, offering 22 sports and hosting more than 400 annual engagements and competitions, the organization says. In 2024, it also supported more than 700 Unified Champion Schools, reaching over 400,000 students statewide, per the same account.
The Adams County Sheriff's Office has flagged its participation in Special Olympics fundraising as an ongoing institutional priority, detailing in an August 2025 episode of its podcast, Breaking & Adventuring, how deputies and training cadets regularly turn out for events like the Plane Pull and the Polar Plunge. The agency's involvement fits into the broader Law Enforcement Torch Run movement, which a Kansas police chief founded in 1981 and which has since grown into an international effort that has raised more than $600 million for Special Olympics, according to Special Olympics. Officers who take part in Torch Run events are known within the movement as Guardians of the Flame.
Departments Compete for Bragging Rights and a Good Cause
Adams County will not be the only badge-wearing team on the tarmac. Last year, a team from the Arvada Police Department, made up of police recruits, administrative staff, and a police services technician, pulled the aircraft 12 feet in 8.08 seconds while raising $3,230 for Special Olympics Colorado, as Hoodline previously reported. That result gives this year's competing agencies, including Adams County, a benchmark to chase in both speed and fundraising.
Friendly rivalry among Denver-area law enforcement agencies is common at these events. The Denver Sheriff Department, for instance, took first place in the 5K portion of the 2025 Special Olympics Colorado Polar Plunge & 5K, a result Hoodline covered at the time. Organizers and departments alike frame the competitions as a way to build team morale while raising money for programming that costs athletes nothing.
The Denver Plane Pull is backed by dental network Smile Generation as title sponsor, with United Airlines serving as presenting sponsor, according to Special Olympics Colorado. Smile Generation also sponsors the organization's State Summer Classic and Polar Plunge events. Whether Adams County Sheriff's Office can hit its $2,800 goal, or how its pull time compares to Arvada's mark from last year, will not be clear until deputies and cadets take their turn on the DEN tarmac on August 29.
