LA's Run to Remember honors fallen first responders

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Pounding the pavement for a good cause, hundreds of runners took off from The Grove for the third annual Run to Remember.

The event not only honors fallen law enforcement officers, but also firefighters and other first responders.

"It's an honor to run with so many of my fellow brothers and sisters in blue and in red - the fire departments are our sisters and brothers," said Andrew Taylor, an officer with LAPD's Foothill Division.

The event started in Boston more than a decade ago as a way to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

For years, the LAPD sent teams to run in the Boston race, but a group of Los Angeles area officers eventually partnered with the Boston Police Runners Club to create this West Coast version.

Pasadena Police Officer Donald Sevesind holds the Guinness world record for the youngest full-time police officer to complete 100 full marathons and 100 half marathons. Sunday, he ran with three flags, one of them for Pomona police Officer Gregg Casillas, who was killed in March.

"These commemorative flags are our small way of honoring them - honoring their lives and what they gave up," he said.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck says the Run to Remember truly brings the community together.

"Being a cop and a firefighter can be very very difficult, and they're sometimes underappreciated, and we want to make sure that they know that we believe in them," Beck said.

The run raises money for families of the fallen.