120-mile Baker to Vegas relay cuts through Pahrump – PHOTOS
Hundreds of law enforcement officers passed through the Pahrump Valley this weekend in the 120-mile Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay.
Officers from departments all over Southern California, Arizona and beyond traveled to Baker, California to start the race along desert roads before ending their day in Las Vegas.
The event began 24 miles north of Baker and traveled north to Shoshone before heading west to Pahrump along Highway 372, then south on Highway 160 to Las Vegas where the runners would end up at the Rio Hotel and Casino.
The race included 12 categories for competitors. Although the race is mostly for sworn-in law enforcement officers, some categories were open to civilians.
In the 150 category – reserved for agencies with 150 or fewer officers – Culver City Police Department finished in first place with a time of 15 hours, 27 minutes and 29 seconds.
Its team finished more than 17 minutes ahead of Newport Beach Police Department, which finished in second place with a time of 15 hours, 44 minutes and 49 seconds.
The fastest time run by any agency in the race was 15 hours, 3 minutes and 33 seconds by the Navajo Department of Public Safety. They competed in the invitational category of the event, which required them to compete with at least two non-sworn in individuals.
The Los Angeles Police Department won the women’s category with a time of 15 hours, 56 minutes and 39 seconds. They won the category by nearly three minutes over the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department who finished the race with a time of 15 hours, 59 minutes and 5 seconds.
Five international police agencies participated in this year’s Baker to Vegas race.
Berlin Police Department finished in first place, winning the category by over an hour. They ran a time of 16 hours, 16 minutes and 15 seconds.
The annual race will take place again next spring. The target time for the race is always late-March to mid-April.
Contact sports writer/editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com. Follow @_dannysmyth on Twitter.
