RRRC Invitational – HBD to Me

Mark Jimenez

Every fall we sponsor what I think is one of the best events around, the Red Rock Running Company Cross Country Invitational. I absolutely love the sport of Cross Country, and I love working hard to make this event amazing for our hard working Southern Nevada athletes. Three years ago we moved the race from a morning race to a night race to try to get a better atmosphere. Two years ago we moved it to James Regional Sports Park, and this year we added Hoka as sponsors to the race.

This year the race also happened to fall on my birthday.

Spectators line the finish line as the sun goes down over the RRRC Invitational

We take a “spare no expense” approach to the race. The medals are probably the biggest medals of any Cross Country meet in the country, and the top 20 finishers in the two Newcomers races received medals, and the top 25 finishers in the four “returning athletes” races received medals. Hoka also pitched in with backpacks, and the top 10 finishers in each race received backpacks.

The 2025 RRRC Invitational Medal

Timing this event is no easy task. Over 800 runners competed in 6 different races, and the preparation and race-day timing took up about 72 hours of work. Mother nature decided to throw in a hot and humid day on race day as well! I knew I’d need help with the event so I called in Erik, the owner of Runaround Running & Lifestyle in Joplin, MO to come in and help. He has a lot of experience timing races and he is also a good friend. I also asked Flynn to come out. The ever faithful Kory Anderson was on hand as well. All told there was a great crew assisting with the race.

My birthday has always been at a weird time for me. When I was a kid, August 23rd was usually the week before school started. When I became a teacher it was the same thing, and then the last few years of my teaching career CCSD moved the start date forward to early August, so I was usually working on my birthday. So honestly, it’s just another day. If anything, having this amazing event on my birthday makes it even more fun and special to me.

August 23rd started with a 4:45am wake-up call. I handled the group run and then Erik and I made sure everything was ready to go in the van and trailer. By 3pm we were on our way to James Regional.

Nick and Nathaniel from Hoka beat us to it. They arrived about 15 minutes before us and were setting up. They brought the atmosphere and made race day awesome. Kids could try on Hoka shoes and get Hoka SWAG. There was Hoka branded all over the course. They are already talking about coming back next year, and I can’t wait!

Hoka on the course

DJ Prenup came and kept the energy level up big time. He was engaged and announcing finishers as they came in. The kids loved the music and after the races were over he even had some kids dancing after the races were over. You can give him a follow on Instagram @djprenuplv and see what he’s all about. It was definitely a lot of fun and he made it even better!

DJ Prenup getting the kids dancing after the race

The races themselves were amazing. We saw some blazing fast times to start the year. The quality of athletes in Southern Nevada just keeps getting better and better. Kudos to the coaches for doing a great job, and of course to the kids for putting the work in.

On a personal note, it was a little melancholy to experience this event for the first time without coaching. Flynn and I did a mic drop after winning the Men’s and Women’s State Championship last season. It’s hard to walk away, and it definitely tugged at my heart strings to come back and time the event. Still, this is what I wanted. I need to be able to focus on more than just one school. Now we are positioned to do great things for all the kids in the valley and that is our goal. There are younger coaches out there who can dedicate the time. We have passed that baton on. Now look for Flynn and I to be helping everybody.

As the night came to a close the guys from Hoka surprised me by bringing out a table with a birthday cake on it. They got the crowd singing happy birthday. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. After 3 days of hard work to pull off this event, it was great to end it with a birthday shout out.