Three longtime runners and friends — two U.S. citizens and one Mexican — always wanted to organize their own race. During the pandemic they came up with a seemingly challenging idea: What if the starting point and the finish line were on different sides of the border?
They surprised even themselves when they got the OKs.
On Sept. 15, runners from both sides of the border can participate in the Binational Race, which includes a half marathon from Las Americas Outlets in San Ysidro to the westernmost corner of the U.S.-Mexico border in Playas de Tijuana and a parallel 10K race exclusively on the Tijuana side. The friends hope it will become an annual thing.
“Our goal here is to unite the running community from both cities,” said co-founder Valeria Rivera. “We’ve heard from runners who have never crossed the border, even though they live here in the U.S., and this event will be their first time visiting Tijuana.”
Rivera, along with Benjamín Castillo and Paulina Gallegos, began working on a plan after the pandemic.
Since the border was closed to non-essential travel at the time, Castillo, who lives in Tijuana, was unable to cross into the U.S. to run with his friends as usual, so Rivera and Gallegos had to go to him. In the midst of the pandemic, new groups of runners from both countries began to form as something to do, Castillo said, and the idea of organizing a race in which runners could cross the border together was born.
The trio reached out to U.S. and Mexican officials and outlined their plan. After being informed of the requirements and permits, they were given the green light to proceed. “How did we do it? We knocked on their doors,” Castillo said.
Local Mexican and U.S. federal authorities consulted on the matter confirmed that there are no impediments to the race.
Mike Coleman, CEO of Timing HQ, which is in charge of the race on the U.S. side, described the whole process as “challenging” because of the jurisdictions involved but said that officials from both countries have been very welcoming to the idea.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind race,” he said.
Coleman said southbound traffic from San Ysidro into Mexico will not be affected by the race, which takes place on the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day. Mexican officials will temporarily designate one lane on the far west side of the port of entry exclusively for runners, he said.
Ongoing construction on Tijuana’s Avenida Internacional, which is part of the route, won’t be a problem either, he said. Coleman added that Mexican officials have assured them that the lanes will be open and that there will be no construction at the time.
Castillo said they are expecting up to 3,000 runners for both the half marathon and the 10K. Both will finish on the Mexican side of Friendship Park in Playas de Tijuana with a cultural festival featuring music, food and art. A shuttle service will be available for runners from Playas de Tijuana to the San Ysidro Port of Entry from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants can pay for the service in advance online during registration or at the site.
Runners won’t be stopped on their way into Mexico, organizers said, but it is essential to visibly display the race number. To return to the U.S., runners will need to present their standard immigration documents at the port of entry.
The half marathon will start at 6:30 a.m. at American Outlets. The Tijuana 10K will start next to the Costco in Zona Rio, and the course will eventually merge with the route coming from the U.S.
Registrations are still open at BinationalRace.com.
