Constable Eric Doucette was pounding the pathways midway between Baker California and Las Vegas once again this year in a grueling road race with police officers from all over the world.
Doucette is a member of an RCMP K Division team that takes on the annual race of law enforcement officers on the grueling trek called Baker to Vegas founded by the LAPD. His team has 20 racers to take on the 120-mile course.
Last year Doucette took an open spot on the roster to take on a 9.4 kilometre descent through Mountain Pass, at about the midway point of the race. He took to his leg at about 2:30 a.m.
“I did the same leg again because I wanted to beat last year’s time,” he tells the Mail.
He posted 39:47, beating last year’s time by about 25 seconds. He adds that running in the middle of the night through the desert, wasn’t too bad, after all there were reports of some of the daytime runners, slogging through 120 degree Fahrenheit temperatures.
“The follow vehicles during the day, they had spray bottles with ice water and towels in buckets of ice given to the runners,” he explains.
Despite the harsh conditions, Doucette enjoys the race. A big part of it is camaraderie.
“You get to meet police agencies from around the globe,” he said.
After the race, the international teams are invited to an after party hosted by the LAPD homicide division as a fundraiser. That was a great opportunity to meet different officers. Some take part in the tradition of exchanging Challenge Coins.
There were only three Canadian teams entered and all were from Alberta. His team had one runner from Surrey B.C., and one member of the Edmonton City Police. Along with his crew, there is a female RCMP team and Calgary City Police team.
Doucette was accompanied by his family, and while the race schedule kept him busy, they were able to spend some family time together, including zip lining over Fremont Street.
