EL PASO -- Driving along El Pasos Rim Road, which hugs the southern tip of the Rockies, its difficult to tell where Texas ends and Mexico begins.

Looking down on the town below, a thick, black line marks the desert sand ahead in the distance, running over a hill into the emptiness beyond. Its a fence, the very visible border that divides El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. Behind it curves the Rio Grande, a skeleton of its former self used primarily for irrigation once it hits Texas.

Mention that fence and youll have Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas) in your ear. The fence, for ORourke, symbolizes all thats wrong with outside perceptions of the border and what its like to live just across the river from Mexico.

Im really embarrassed by the fence, ORourke told The Huffington Post. We are the largest truly binational community in the world and our connection is our strength. Any attempt to divide that or separate it, especially with this awful fence the East Germans would be ashamed of, is the wrong way to go.

While Republican presidential hopefuls debated Thursday night for the first time, arguing for more security on the border, and a higher wall, ORourke prepped for the highlight of the U.S.-Mexico summit he put together this week: a 10K race looping from El Paso into Juarez, and ending atop the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry.

ORourke aims to send a message that the border is far different than the image painted by candidates.

The race, held Saturday morning, was meant to signal all that has changed for the two border towns. ORourke, as well as local nonprofits, entrepreneurs and philanthropists, hope the race will help to redefine and reclaim the region they call home. It was the first time such a race has been able to be held since the Sept. 11 attacks, which ramped up security at the border.

The three-day summit, which concluded Saturday, involved cabinet officials from the administrations of U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pea Nieto; lawmakers from Mexico and the U.S.; the mayors of El Paso and Juarez; and the head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The atmosphere in the two border towns throughout the summit was a far cry from that on the campaign trail.

People want to see the wall built, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Thursday during the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Fox News .

Business mogul Donald Trump took it even further when asked to defend his charges that the Mexican government is sending over rapists to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who called his comments horrible.

This was not a subject that was on anybodys mind until I said it, Trump said. The fact is, since then, many killings, murders, crimes, drugs pouring across the border are money going out and drugs coming in. And I said it, we need to build a wall and it has to be built quickly and I dont mind having a big, beautiful door in that wall so people can come into this country legally. But we need, Jeb, to build a wall. We need to keep illegals out.

Bush, on the other hand, stood by his comments that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. out of love and because they have no other option.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, like Trump, pushed for a more secure border, as did Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who is also running for the nomination, offered a bit more, arguing that the majority of people coming across the border are not from Mexico, but Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, before adding that the U.S. needs a fence because people feel like we are being taken advantage of.