Campo, California - U.S. Border Patrol employees from San Diego and El Centro sectors once again honored the memory of their fallen comrade on July 23 and 24, 2015, with the sixth annual Robert Rosas Jr. Memorial Relay Run.
Approximately 100 people participated in this year’s event. Fifty-two agents and support personnel participated in the 56 mile run. The participants ran twenty-two, 2.55 mile legs (representing Robert’s Border Patrol radio call-sign C-255). The overnight relay finished at Robert’s gravesite in El Centro.
The starting point of this annual relay begins on the same date and at the same location each year at the Robert Rosas Memorial Cross in East County San Diego. The cross is located at the site where Robert was gunned down and murdered by several men near the international border fence while conducting patrol duties on the evening of July 23, 2009.
Robert’s widow, Rosalie, and their two children participate annually in the relay event, handing a challenge coin (with Robert’s image and dates of service) to the first runner at the beginning of the relay. The coin is passed from one participant to another throughout the night, then returned to Rosalie at Robert’s burial site in El Centro.