Sun City Running

As we get ready to enter the 2024-2025 athletic year, this means we get to continue what has become a staple tradition in El Paso. The month of July is typically a month where athletes finish their final preparations for the upcoming Cross Country season, but in recent years; we’ve been treated to a pre-meet style of competition in the form of a Road Race.

In its 9^th year, the Jim Omohundro Courage Memorial Sundown Rundown has transformed itself into a great opportunity for El Paso athletes to gauge their summer training and fitness. But first we have to talk about the sponsor of this unique night time race. The Omohundro family is well known for their contributions to the city under the Jim Omohundro Courage Memorial foundation. Partnered with the Paso Del Norte Community Foundation, they’ve been able to give scholarships to graduating seniors that in their words, “have demonstrated high achievement in both athletics and academics.” Now led by Ryan Omohundro, he honors his father Jim by continuing his work of being a pillar of inspiration and great service to the community of El Paso. More information of their work can be found here.

Over the years we’ve seen this race transform itself to one that has provided athletes an opportunity to shake off the summer “cob webs” and allow themselves to work out the prerace jitters before the start of their upcoming season. We’ve been privileged to witness some incredible races as this has slowly drawn the attention of not just the city of El Paso, but neighboring cities and states as well. This race has also garnered attention from collegiate athletes which really spice the race up by kicking the level of competition up a notch! Some schools we’ve seen in the past compete are San Elizario, Del Valle, Montwood, Bel Air, Franklin and Eastwood. This has always been an amazing combination of the city’s best athletes to create a competitive but fun race. This year’s road race will be at the Eastside Sports Complex and will allow runners to compete in at night. A nighttime race is something we don’t get to see often but the cooler weather will give El Pasoans a break from the triple digit heat. It’s sure to be a great environment that you want to be a part of. This chip timed race will also provide some nice Under Armour tees to the first 300 registered runners. More information on how to sign-up can be found here.