Glendale police trek through 120 miles of desert for relay race
Twenty Glendale police officers pounded the pavement over the weekend as they competed in a 120-mile relay race through the desert against 8,000 other law-enforcement personnel.
Officers from across California, as well as several from neighboring states and foreign countries, trekked through the arid Mojave Desert for the 33rd annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay, from Baker, Calif. to Las Vegas.The 120 miles was broken up into 20 legs, with each leg being six miles.
The Glendale Police Department placed seventh among agencies with between 150 and 300 sworn officers. Local officers completed the race in 16 hours, 1 minute and 48 seconds, beating out investigators from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office by 23 minutes.
Officers from Torrance placed first in the category, finishing the race in 14 hours, 32 minutes and 37 seconds.
Overall, Glendale placed 56th out of 279 teams.
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Glendale Police Lt. Andrew Jenks has been running the race for 16 years and said part of its philosophy is to promote physical fitness, with runners training year-round.
“It’s a big event for all the members of our department and our families,” he said. “It’s all volunteer time. The race is all supported through private fundraising.”
In addition to the 20 officers, Jenks said about 50 other people were on hand to act as a support crew to ensure the runners remained hydrated and safe.
Next year will mark Glendale’s 30th year participating in the relay, with Jenks calling that milestone a “big one” for the department.
“[For now] we decompress, have a drink and some good food,” he said. “And then we start thinking about next year.”
In addition to the Glendale Police Department’s involvement, personnel from the Altadena and Crescenta Valley sheriff’s stations took part in the race — with the two participating as one team.
The team placed fifth in its category, which required the minimum combined age of its participants to be 800 years as well as having at least five women and two non-sworn personnel as members.
They finished the race in 17 hours, 46 minutes and 57 seconds, beating out a team from the U.S. Department of Labor by one minute.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
