The Riverside County teams slated to join a legendary relay race later this month that takes competitors across 120 miles of desert, ending in Las Vegas, were confirmed Friday.
The 2026 “Baker-to-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay,” organized by the Los Angeles Police Revolver & Athletic Club, is expected to draw upwards of 3,000 runners from public safety agencies throughout California, a few other states and the federal government on the weekend of March 28-29. A total of 276 teams have signed up.
The Banning, Corona, Hemet, Menifee, Murrieta and Riverside police departments have personnel scheduled to run, along with employees from several Riverside County sheriff’s divisions, the District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Probation. According to www.bakervegas.net, there are a dozen teams from Riverside County on the roster.
The 20-leg race begins along state Route 127, roughly 25 miles north of Baker, California, traverses Highway 178, into Pahrump, Nevada, and from there straight onto West Desert Inn Road, then onto South Valley View Boulevard, ending in the parking lot of the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
“One hundred and twenty miles of pavement, 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,” according to an LAPRAC statement.
Teams will head out in waves — or “flights” — with the fastest competitors leaving later.
Since it began in 1985, the relay has become the seminal law enforcement race of the year, according to organizers. It was suspended in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID lockdowns, but has otherwise stayed on track during the other years since its inception.
Last year’s first-place team, from the California Highway Patrol “Elite” unit, completed its run in 12 hours, 31 minutes and 55 seconds. The last-place team, from the Lodi Police Department, made it in 22 hours, 36 minutes and 29 seconds.
The Riverside County sheriff’s “lead” team landed in the top 10 at 14 hours, 31 minutes and 38 seconds, according to results. That was the best time-in of any team from within the county.
This year’s competitors traveling long distances to participate include teams from Oklahoma, Texas, New York and the Navajo Indian Reservation Department of Public Safety in Arizona.