Energy runs high at Modesto Peace Officer races scaled down because of COVID-19
Among the roughly 1,000 participants in Sunday morning’s ninth annual Peace Officer Memorial races were runners, joggers, walkers, tots in strollers, dogs, fully uniformed officers and even a couple of people impersonating officers.
The latter two were easy to tell apart from the real cops, though, given they were ages 10 and 12.
The younger of the buddy cops, Johan Navarro of Modesto, grinned broadly when asked if anyone had mistaken him for a real officer. No one had, he said, but if someone had turned to him for aid, “I’d help them,” he said.
His 12-year-old partner, Lalo Sanchez of Delhi, said he wore the blue on Sunday because “I like cops. They help people and it’s what I want to be when I grow up.”
Lalo, along with Johan and all the other participants in the half marathon, 5K and kids fun run already were helping people, because Sunday’s event was a benefit for the Peace Officer Memorial Group of Stanislaus County. Formed in 2002, the nonprofit organization supports and assists families of fallen officers.
In some past years, the event has drawn more than 2,000 runners. This year, with the world still in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers capped participation at 1,000.
Race director Sean Dodge, a Modesto Police Department detective who ran the 5K on Sunday with his 17-year-old daughter, estimated there were 100 participants in the kids fun run, 600 in the 5K and 250 in the half marathon.
It’s become a tradition for some officers to run in full uniform and gear, and Dodge said between 40 and 50 did so Sunday. Most are from within the county, but some officers from Fresno and Stockton also took part.
Some law enforcement ran “undercover,” or plainclothes, among them Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse and Undersheriff Micky LaBarbera, who did the 5K.
Modesto Police Department Chief Brandon Gillespie, who counted down the race starts, good-naturedly told runners to make sure they came in ahead of the sheriff. Some did, of course, but 49-year-old Dirkse had a strong finish: 40th overall, and fourth in his age group of 40-49. His time was 26:22.
The first three finishers in the 5K were 17-year-old Pitman High student Damian Garcia of Turlock, 17:58; 25-year-old Alexis Reynoso of Modesto, 18:22; and 32-year-old Alice Fotheringham of Modesto, 20:21.
The top three half marathoners were 37-year-old Greg Decker of Ripon, 1:26:26; 49-year-old Chad Stessman of Turlock, 1:27:33; and 49-year-old Charles Wickersham of Riverbank, 1:34:50.
The first female finisher of the 13.1-mile course was 16-year-old Central Catholic High School student Julia Zensius of Modesto. She came in 16th overall, with a time of 1:46:31.
Full race results are posted at tinyurl.com/292szuzv.
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 12:02 PM.
