Ventura County deputies win challenge race

The Ventura County Sheriff's Department's Baker to Vegas Team recently won the Allen Heersch Memorial Cup, which is given each year to Ventura County's fastest law enforcement team.

The Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup is a 120-mile, 20-stage foot race that starts in Baker, Calif., travels through the Mojave Desert to Shoshone, Calif., north to Pahrump, Nev., over the Mountain Springs Pass and down to Las Vegas. This year the race consisted of more than 250 teams of 20 runners each from law enforcement and criminal justice agencies from the United States and around the world.

In addition to competing against other teams, Ventura County law enforcement agencies compete against each other for the Allen Heersch Memorial Cup. Sgt. Allen Heersch was a member of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department who died of cancer. The memorial cup was established in 2003.

Ventura County teams participating in the Baker to Vegas challenge are the Oxnard Police Department, Simi Valley Police Department, Ventura Police Department, Ventura County Highway Patrol, Ventura County State Parks and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.