When is this year’s Baker to Vegas race set to go through Pahrump?

Celebrating four decades of tradition in 2025, the Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay is slated for this weekend and with the halfway point of the foot race located right here in Pahrump, thousands of race participants will be passing through town.

“A hundred and twenty miles of pavement, 20 stages, over 10,000 runners, guests, family members and support staff. Hot days and cold nights. Blood. Sweat. Pride. Honor. That’s what the world’s most prestigious and unique law enforcement foot race is all about,” details background information on the race. “Starting in Baker, California and ending in Las Vegas, Nevada, law enforcement officers from around the globe battle it out every spring for the chance of winning the coveted cup trophy.”

With so many people taking part and more than 100 miles to cover, the Baker to Vegas race requires plenty of cooperation in the locations through which it passes and the community of Pahrump has continually stepped up to assist. There are numerous welcome booths set up along the Baker to Vegas route, with supporters out to cheer on the contestants and help them fuel up for the always-grueling trek up Highway 160 to Mountain Springs.

One of the local organizations that plays a major role in the race each year is Southern Nye County Search and Rescue, a nonprofit entity made up of volunteers dedicated to the safety of the community.

“On April 5 and 6, Southern Nye County Search and Rescue will be supporting the Baker to Vegas law enforcement relay race. SAR will help with radio communication, time keeping and race participants’ status,” SAR Photographer and Historian Victor Zech told the Pahrump Valley Times.

And it’s not just with the logistics that SAR will be assisting. The group will also be selling hotdogs and hamburgers, along with chili and soft drinks, for spectators and event support staff.

“SAR will be located on Highway 372 east of Blagg Road, next to the Shell Station. Look for our yellow Command Bus,” Zech encouraged.

The Baker to Vegas event was created 40 years ago by L.A. police officers Chuck Foote and Larry Moore following the abrupt end of the “Death Valley Relay,” a race started by the L.A. Police Dept., which ran for seven years. Foote and Moore, both active in law enforcement athletics, selected long and desolate stretches of highway winding through the deserts of California and Nevada for their event.

“The first stop was Baker, California, where a short but very welcome visit with the Baker High School principal secured a home for the starting line. It was followed by a whistle stop in Shoshone and a friendship of over 20 years was begun with Robbie Haines,” a history of the race reads. “Then came Pahrump, Nevada, a town neither Foote nor Moore had ever visited but they knew runners passing through the night would wake someone up. They began to inquire whom to talk with about this event. Everyone said, go see ‘Floyd’ in the hardware store. Our relationship with Pahrump has grown about as fast as the town itself.”

The starting point and finish lines have changed over the last 40 years and Moore has passed away but the Baker to Vegas lives on. In fact, the event is now so large and well-known that organizers have imposed a limit on the number of participating teams, capping it at 300. In addition, it’s not only police officers who compete but probation officers, district attorneys, U.S. attorneys and full-time civilian police personnel as well.

“As a result of this growth, the race has flourished. Today it is the largest law enforcement event of its kind in the world… The Challenge Cup/Baker to Vegas Relay is truly a national and international event,” the event history reports.

The Baker to Vegas race will start Saturday, April 5 at 8 a.m. north of Baker and conclude on Sunday, April 6 with an awards ceremony starting at 5 p.m. at the Rio Pavilion in Las Vegas.

Runners will be making their way through the Pahrump Valley throughout much of the daytime and nighttime hours on April 5. Motorists are advised to use caution along Highway 372 and Highway 160 while the event is underway and to watch for the pace-cars that will be following the runners.

For more information visit BakerVegas.net

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com