El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020: Ernie Bautista (Runner)

EL PASO, Texas - Rain or Shine, Ernie Bautista was always on the run.

And come Wednesday, Bautista will run into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020.

Due to Covid-19, the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame was unable to host an induction ceremony last year.

Bautista's passion for running came later in his life, but he knew early on that if he was going to get into the sport, he was going to be the best.

Now at 79-years-old, Bautista looks back at his career with no regrets.

His running career allowed him to travel around the world competing in more than 600 5K, 8K and 10K races.

Bautista has also run in more than 40 full marathons some which include the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, Los Angeles Marathon, Duke City Marathon and the Mexico City Marathon.

Bautista has participated in many senior games in different cities and states winning multiple gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal.

In 2015 he was ranked 12th in the United States and 12th worldwide for the USATF indoor track and field
championships.

Now Bautista can add El Paso Athletic Hall of Famer to his list of accomplishments.

"I was really excited," Bautista said. "I went all the way back thinking about all the training that I did. I got all the flashbacks. It was wonderful."

The El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony is Wednesday at 6 p.m.

ABC-7 will be livestreaming the event at KVIA.com.