The Global Torch Run is a pivotal event in the lead-up to the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games. While the Torch Run has been a Special Olympics tradition for more than 25 years, this marks the first time the "Flame of Hope" has traveled the globe in a single event. Transported via DHL's global logistics network and then carried by torch on the ground by teams of athletes and law enforcement personnel from around the world, the flame will travel more than 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles), touching down on five continents over the next three months before arriving in Shanghai, where it will ignite the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the 2007 World Games on 2 October.