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5,220 Officers To Run From Baker To Vegas In 'Challenge Cup Relay'

BAKER (CBS) — This weekend, 15,000 to 20,000 law enforcement officials from California to Canada will attend one of the world's toughest races.

A total of 5,220 runners on 261 teams will pass the baton along 20 stages of the 120-mile Challenge Cup Relay course, which heads from Baker to Las Vegas.

KNX's 1070's Pete Demetriou Reports

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Race Director LAPD Sgt. Jim Katapodis says it will be a physical, fiscal and logistical challenge to even take part in the race.

Temperatures on the course will be more than 100 degrees, with humidity at less than 10 percent. Medical Director Dr. Julia Cameron says last year, those conditions took out a lot of runners.

The Challenge Cup record is 12:41:29, which was set in 1996. Katapodis thinks it possible that some elite teams might beat that time this year.

About half the teams will walk away with a prize, but others will cross the finish line saying, "never again," which is something Dr. Cameron has heard before.

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