Baker to Vegas 2025: Running to Compete, Running to Honor.

The United State Marshals Service (USMS) is proud to announce the successful completion of the 2025 Baker to Vegas (B2V) Challenge Cup Relay by three agency teams: USMS Elite Running Team, USMS Women’s Running Team Silver, and USMS Women’s Running Team Blue. Each team represented the best of who the agency is: committed, resilient, and united in purpose.

B2V is no ordinary relay race. It’s a 120-mile, 20-stage relay through the Mojave Desert, finishing in Las Vegas. The course pushes runners to their limits with punishing terrain, extreme temperature swings, long, steep mountain climbs, and miles of isolation. This year, runners battled sustained 25-mph headwinds – a brutal new layer of difficulty. Each team met it head-on with grit, heart, and determination.

But this race wasn’t just about time – it was about tribute. This year our teams ran in honor of Deputy Tommy Weeks, TFO William Alden Elliott, TFO Sam Poloche, and Honorary Special Deputy Joshua Eyer – four fallen officers whose memory continues to guide and inspire us. The teams were incredibly honored to be joined on the racecourse by Kelly Weeks, whose presence brought powerful meaning to the journey and reminded everyone of the deep personal connections behind every name.

Our tribute was woven into every step:

• We wore red bandannas (Tommy’s favorite color) and wristbands with Tommy’s name and badge number.
• Each runner had the names of all four of our fallen, and their end of watch dates on memorial shoe tags to ensure every footfall had meaning.  
• Each runner carried photos of the fallen on their race bibs.
• A memorial candle was lit for each fallen officer at the start of the race and burned until the final USMS runner crossed the finish line.
• Tommy’s favorite songs were incorporated into our playlists, and we ran our hardest miles dedicated to our four fallen.
• At the finish line, we handed the team batons to Kelly Weeks, a symbolic gesture that carried the memory of our heroes across 120-miles of grueling desert.

For all three teams, this achievement did not come without personal sacrifice. Each runner, alternate, and support team member gave generously of their personal time, energy, and financial resources to represent the USMS and carry the memory of our heroes. Travel, lodging, training, gear, equipment, annual leave, and rental vehicles came out of their own pockets – which was done in service of something bigger than themselves. They did it to stand for the USMS, and to honor our fallen.

We could not be prouder of these teams. B2V is a powerful reflection of who we are as an agency – strong, unified, selfless, and driven by purpose. It showcases our people at their best – working together to support one another and doing whatever it takes to rise to the challenge. Together we ran to compete. Together we ran to remember.