2009 Baker to Vegas Relay Race

Culver City Mugs for Third Consecutive Year

The Culver City Police Department participates annually in the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay Race.  This event is restricted to law enforcement teams and has grown in popularity to become an international event.  Although most of the teams are from California, the event attracts teams from as far away as New York, Texas, Canada, Australia and Europe.  In 2007, 227 teams competed in the race making it the largest law enforcement event of its kind in the world.

The race covers 120 grueling miles, which is broken down into 20 stages through the desert and mountains between Baker, Ca. and Las Vegas, Nv.  Teams start on Saturday afternoon, run throughout the night and finish on Sunday morning.  The fastest teams complete the race in about 13 hours and the slower teams complete the race in about 20 hours. 

The race conditions are virtually unknown from one stage to another.  The early runners may face temperatures reaching 120 degrees along highway 127, while later in the evening runners may be faced with high winds, freezing temperatures, rain or snow.  In 1987, the race had to be halted due to a blizzard that was impassable.  The 20 stages, or legs, vary from flat stretches in the desert heat to the infamous “billy-goat legs,” which climb in elevation to 5600 feet at the Summit.  It is truly a race that pushes you to your limits.  Every year runners will push themselves to exhaustion and the need for medical treatment.

To make the event more competitive, the race is broken down into categories based on the number of employees of each department.  Culver City competes in the 150 and below category.

However, there is more to the race than the 20 runners.  There is a great deal of logistics that goes into planning the race.  There are strict rules in place to ensure the safety of the runners.  Each team is required to supply support personnel for their runners.  There is the need for follow and shuttle vans, supplies and lodging.  Personnel who do not make the trip to the race volunteer to work extra shifts. 

The community pitches in to make Baker to Vegas a true community event.  Without our generous sponsors, it would be almost impossible for us to compete in this event.  In 2007, over 20,000 runners, support personnel, volunteers, family and friends were involved in the race.

So what is the prize for all of this effort?  If you have trained hard enough, planned out the race well enough and finished in the top half of you division, you get a glass MUG and bragging rights for a year.  Placing high enough to get a MUG is quite an accomplishment.  Culver City competed for a number of years and come home empty handed.  That changed three years ago.  In 2005, we finished just high enough, 9th in our division, to receive our first MUG.  That was a proud day for us and put us among the elite teams who received a MUG.  We have carried that pride with us the last two years.  In 2006 we finished 4th in our division and received our second MUG.  In 2007 we finished 3rd in our division and received our third MUG in as many years.  We also finished 70th overall out of 227 teams.  This is quite an accomplishment since the vast majority of the teams consist of departments larger than ours. 

With our continued determination, and the support of our sponsors, we plan to continue our MUGGING ways and improve on our overall placement.

Key Points:
- Team came in 3rd in the Division
- Team placed 70th overall, out of 237 teams.

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Baker to Vegas Supporters:
Culver City Credit Union
Rock & Republic
Cozy Inn
Joxer Daly's
Goodman's Towing
B&B Hardware
Exotic Car Wraps
Centinela Feed and Pet Supplies
Davis Tires & Auto
First Federal Bank
Just Tires
State Farm Insurance, Richard Newman Culver City
Castelli Art and Framing