And they're off —  to raise money and awareness for kids with special needs in the first ever NYPD Brooklyn North Patrol Borough 5k.

"We learned many members of the police department had family members with special needs so we wanted to do something to give back to the community," said patrol Commander Jeffrey Maddrey.

Maddrey said he was inspired after learning about a 13-year old boy with autism from Arizona named Jake. Last year Brooklyn North officers sent Jake birthday cards and then invited his family out to the race.

"To take a kid that you barely know bring him out here and do this awesome event for him it just shows that there's good Samaritans out there and more importantly there's police officers that genuinely do care about the public, the people in the communities," said Jake's father, Tom Priestley.

More than 1,000 people ran and walked, some side-by-side with their children.

"It's very emotional because I'm affected by it," said Nydia Rodriguez, president of NYPD Cares. "It's very emotional because I'm affected by it."

"I think this is really amazing for a little kid that has special needs," said one young runner. "All the people from Brooklyn and New York came here and supported the people special needs."

And just because the race was for charity didn't mean it wasn't also competitive. The first finisher came in under 19 minutes.

Money raised from the race will go towards two organizations that support families that have children with special needs — NYPD Cares and With Arms Wide Open.