Probation and Sheriff Cross Relay Race Finish Line Swiftly

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Probation Supervisor Carl Heidemann runs in the California-Nevada desert in the 2013 Baker to Vegas relay race.Over the weekend, the San Diego County Probation team crossed the finish line at 15:56:07 just ahead of the San Diego Sheriff Department team which came in at 16:32:31 in the Challenge Cup “Baker to Vegas” Relay Race.

Probation went from finishing in 92nd place to 42nd place and the Sheriff’s went from 104th place to 69th place. Both teams shaved significant time from last year’s race which went on despite record temperatures. This year it was hot and windy, temperatures peaked at 99 degrees and only dipped down into the 70s at night.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office also had a team in the race and finished at 16:55:30.

The three county teams were among 260 law enforcement teams from around the world to compete in this year’s 120-mile relay race.

“San Diego County Probation was the fastest team among all the probation teams that entered,” said probation team captain Linda Yoakum-Latimer.  “At the end, we were just ecstatic. We really surprised ourselves. We didn’t realize we were going to take back our title and that’s a nice feeling because we’d lost that title for a few years.”

The Hamburg, Germany SWAT team also thanked the San Diego County Probation team during the awards ceremony for helping them gather race supplies like water, food and race supplies which allows them to participate in the race.

Deputy Kim Nicholson assigned to the Encinitas Sheriff's Station starts her leg of the race this past weekend.San Diego Sheriff’s Department team captain Denese Deal said they improved their time by 37 minutes and moved up from 104th place to 69th place.

“It ran smooth, everyone got where they had to go and everyone had a good time. We actually had such a great race,” said Deal. “We’re excited for next year.  I know everybody is already training for next year.”

Next year, the race will be held the weekend of March 22-23, so temperatures will be less severe.

 The San Diego County Sheriff's team and support staff.