This race is one of my favorite races of the year in San Diego which benefits the San Diego County Crime Stoppers Reward Fund. It’s a fun cops and robbers themed race in which you can run either as a cop/robber team (in or out of costume) or individually.

Before the race was held at Balboa Park, but it has recently moved to Liberty Station. The Liberty Station course is flat and easy for all ages to run, including stroller runners.

The start of this race is my favorite. They stage a jail break with a police helicopter flying overhead and sirens sounding off. The robbers of the cop/robber teams are started and begin their run. Three minutes later the gun sounds again and the cops are let loose to chase down their robber counterpart. All others (and walkers) start immediately after the cops.

During the race, if a cop catches a robber, the cop and robber “handcuff” together and finish the race with each other. The top 25 cop/robber teams get an extra goodie bag.

The course itself is flat and smooth and goes around a park. There isn’t much else to say about the course besides that water is provided before and after the race. Since it is a 5k there isn’t need for much else.

There are plenty of booths to look through before and after the actual race. They have nearby restaraunts for food and they have food booths as well. One year they provided free tacos for participants, and I wish they brought that back!

Overall, if you love themed runs that fund a good cause (community safety) then this is your race. It’s easy so it won’t ruin any training plans and it’s fun for all fitness levels and ages.

(I’ll be there this year in robber gear, so if you see me say hi!)