RUNNING IN MEXICO
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| View of the Pacific from Elektra Hill viewpoint in Huatulco, Mexico |
For this Canadian snowbird a winter stay in Mexico really helps keep running fresh and exciting. In this post, I will highlight the running scene in three cities visited so far: Los Cabos, Mazatlan, and Huatulco. The plan is to add to this list as I visit other cities.
Recently, I discovered that running groups in some of these cities have an active Facebook page. Before your trip, following a Facebook running group allows you to, pardon the pun, hit the ground running before you get to Mexico. For instance, Huatulco had an active Facebook group with information on local races, running routes and so forth.
LOS CABOS
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| Playa Santa Maria |
Located on the southern tip of Mexico‘s Baja California peninsula, Los Cabos comprises two cities: Cabo San Lucas and Cabo San Jose. Connecting these two cities is a 20-mile stretch of the national highway (Hwy 1) which is known locally as Los Corredores. This tourist corridor is home to many fine resorts and beaches. Check out Playa Santa Maria near the start of your trip to familiarize yourself with the swimming, snorkeling, or sea kayaking that Los Cabos has to offer.
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| Run course for Ironman 70.3 in Cabo San Jose |
To familiarize yourself with Cabo San Jose, using the run course of the Los Cabos Half-Iron (taking place in November) is recommended. As the map above shows, after the bike leg, runners start out by heading east on Malecon San Jose which has many oceanfront resorts on it. Then, you turn left (north) on Boulevard Antonio Mijares, and as you can see you go slightly past then return before turning left (east) on East Cape Road which takes you over a bridge and estuary that has lots of fish and birdlife activity. (You will want to have a more extended viewing of this estuary at a later time.) Then you turn left (north) on Camino Cabo Este. This out-and-back route is 10.5-km in length and is completed twice by triathletes to get the half-marathon distance in this Half-Iron.*
*Note: With all routes mentioned in this post, feel free to customize them as you wish.
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| Route for marina boardwalk in Cabo San Lucas |
To familiarize yourself with Cabo San Lucas, a run along the marina boardwalk is recommended. As the map shows, this route takes you from the lighthouse at the End of the Pier to Playa Publica Cabo San Lucas, and back for a 5-km route in total. In addition to a variety of boats, the marina boardwalk has many restaurants, boutiques and hotels on this route.
MAZATLAN
Located on Mexico’s Pacific side, some describe Mazatlan as a “working city”; meaning that in addition to tourism, other industry and commerce drive it's economy. Nevertheless, tourism dominates along Mazatlan’s coastline. Especially where the malecon is located from Playa Gaviotas to Playa Norte - a 4-km stretch. From Playa Norte, one can head south from the coastline to find the central historical district with sites like Plaza Republica, Pino Suarez Market, museums and so on.
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| Route for malecon pathway from "Mazatlan" letters to Fishermen Monument. Also, this image shows the location of Mazatlan's Centro district. |
I recommend using this malecon as a running route in Mazatlan. Start at the “Mazatlan” letters (Letras de Mazatlan) near Playa Gaviotas located in the “Golden Zone” and run south to the Fishermen Monument (Monumento de Pescador) near Playa Norte, or vice versa. This part of the malecon is approximately 4-km one-way and is quite wide and separate from car traffic.
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| One end of the aqua blue pedestrian pathway in Cerritos. Also, this pathway is well lit at nighttime, as indicated by the surrounding number of street lights. |
Located north of the "Golden Zone", Cerritos has a 5-km long pedistrian pathway in - another safe running route and popular with tourists. This pathway runs along the boulevard separating north- and south-bound traffic on Avenida Sabalo Cerritos.
HUATULCO
Located on the Pacific coast about 350 km from the Mexico-Guatemala border, Huatulco comprises two adjoined cities: Santa Cruz and La Crucecita. The coastline has nine bays (or bahias) and each one of these bays can have more than one beach; meaning that Huatulco has many beaches to explore, some with good snorkeling, too. I recommend starting your swimming and snorkeling adventures off at Playa Santa Cruz which has fairly calm ocean water to swim in and branch off to other beaches like Chahue, Entrega, Arrocito and so forth.
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| Route from Hotel Binniguenda to the lighthouse. As well, one can stop at the Santa Cruz Bay viewpoint (Mirador Bahia Santa Cruz) along the way. |
Factoring in hill running is a must for Huatulco. In Santa Cruz, one recommended route is make your way to Hotel Binniguenda located on Benito Juárez Boulevard and head north, then take the first left with stops at the Santa Cruz Bay viewpoint (Mirador Bahia Santa Cruz) and lighthouse (Faro de las Bahias de Huatulco) then head back. This route is 3.5-km one-way with 98 m of climbing along the way. The heat and climbing can make this deceptively challenging for Canadian snowbirds!
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| Route from Hotel Mexicana to the Huatulco viewpoint sign. "Huatulco" is spelled out in letters at this viewpoint. |
If running from La Crucecita, make your way to Hotel Mexicana located on Benito Juárez Boulevard and head south to the Huatulco viewpoint sign (Mirador Huatulco - the word "Huatulco" is spelled out in letters at this viewpoint). This 3-km one-way route starts out flat but then has a steady hill climb for about the last kilometer. For an added hill challenge, one could tackle Elektra Hill which begins on the southside of Hotel Mexicana and heads up Punta Santa Cruz Road. Keep left on this road till you come to the beautiful lookout shown at the start of this post. Elektra Hill is approximately 500-m in length at a 10% grade.
CLIMATE
Considering Mexico's climate, dividing the year into a dry season and a wetter, humid season is helpful. The dry season is when there are zero days of precipitation expected for a particular month. In Los Cabos the dry season runs from November to July, for Mazatlan December to May and Huatulco December to March.
If visiting during the dry season, I recommend running in a technical fabric shirt and shorts. If visiting during the wetter, humid season, bringing along a light, packable rain jacket makes sense. More importantly though monitoring the effects of humidity at this time of the year will be important. Perhaps running in the early morning when the humidity is relatively lower will work best.
GETTING THERE
Of the cities I visited so far - Los Cabos, Mazatlan & Huatulco - all these airports accommodate both international and domestic flights. And it seems Mexico City serves as a hub for domestic flights to cities throughout Mexico.
For more information on places to go, things to do, and planning a trip to Mexico, try VISIT MEXICO.
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Thank you for reading!
For more, check out the Travel section in the EOOC TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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Experiment of One Coaching covers topics ranging from running, strength training, health & wellness, sports nutrition to travel. I usually post once or twice a month.
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