Tapachula, Chiapas is a border town in the southernmost part of Mexico. The city sits about fifteen kilometers from the Mexico/Guatemala border with a population of just over 320,000 people. Tapachula doesn’t see many tourists, but it does frequently make headlines for the large caravans of migrants passing through on the way to the United States.
Due to the lack of tourists, a lot of the western health and fitness trends that have made their way to other cities around Mexico, have not yet made it down to Tapachula. One of my favorite examples of this is – vegetarianism. In Tapachula, if you ask at a restaurant for something vegetarian – you will be laughed at. In recent years, the city has been adding more and more, having just opened a Starbucks and not long before that adding a Walmart and Sam’s club with plenty of gluten free and healthier options. However, they still have a long ways to go.
Because of the lack of ‘westernization,’ it came as a bit of a surprise the amount that running plays a role in the lives of Tapachultecos. The city sees a year round average temperature of about 85 degrees, but with an average humidity upwards of 70% and no escape from the sun, it feels much hotter than that. On a day to day basis, you rarely see any runners out on the streets – however, on the weekends, you can find hundreds of people lined up to race in one of the local 5Ks.
If you are looking for a weekend sporting activity while in Tapachula, you can find a local 5K race just about any weekend of the year. The races are not chip timed and are often just over or under their advertised distance, but they are well organized with police escorts and medals for finishers. Most races also come with prize money for the winners, but if not, you at least get bragging rights. As a runner in Tapachula, it would be possible to make a living winning races each weekend. With inscription fees being no more than one hundred pesos and prize money being upwards of 1000 pesos for the winner, it is definitely possible. For the men, you have to be pretty fast to come in top three as there is a lot of competition out there. For the women, it’s a bit easier – you have to run somewhere around a low twenty minute 5K to be top three. You will sometimes find a race which offers prize money to the top three overall (always three men) rather than for gender – the fight for “equal play, equal pay” hasn’t made it down this far just yet.
In addition to the weekly 5K races, there are also several running clubs in the area. There are quite a few locally in Tapachula that appear at most of the events, however there are also teams from neighboring areas such as Huixtla and Tuxtla Chico that regularly compete in the races. When the prize money increases significantly, you will also see runners come in from Guatemala. Leaving myself and local runners absolutely no chance at the prize money.
Tapachula isn’t built as a running city, and perhaps that plays into why you don’t often see runners in the streets. As mentioned before, the sun and the heat play a huge part of that. In addition, the sidewalks are not pedestrian friendly – they are uneven and if you don’t watch above and below you at the same time you are likely to trip or hit your head on something (assuming you are taller than about 5’7″). Running in the road is a possibility, although also a risk. Drivers are known to be a bit out of control at times. Don’t tell my family, but I find myself running in the streets and being assertive is what gets me by, but not everyone may be willing to risk it.
I find myself repeating a similar route each day as that is what’s most conveniently available. Depending on whether you run the route forwards or backwards, the hills will treat you differently, so it’s easy to get varying terrain. It is essentially a lap around the central part of town – from Calle 17a to Central Norte to Central Oriente around in a “square,” or whatever you want to call the figure below. It equals out to be just over four miles.
If you look at my Strava, you may think that’s the only place to run – it’s not. There are a few other places designed specifically for running that I’ve had the chance to visit.
Los Cerritos
Los Cerritos is a sports park in the northeastern part of the city. At the park you can find soccer fields, basketball courts, playgrounds and most importantly (in my opinion) a running track. It is not a running track like we would see in the States – with eight lanes and in a perfect 400m oval. It is track material that spans around the outside of the park and ends up being about a kilometer around. It is also relatively well shaded so you don’t have to worry about the sun beating down on you as you “enjoy” your workout.
Centro Running Track
There is also a running track just past centro, a bit closer to where I am based. The running track is again, very different from what we would see in the US. This one is a straight, kilometer long, track material on a raised platform following the river. The track is mostly unused as it is not shaded so the sun hits quite hard if you go in the middle of the day. One thing I do like about this track, however, is the lovely view of the volcano you get if you go early in the morning. If you look close enough at the photo below, you can see a faint outline of it.
Altitude and Hills/Mountains
If you want to get in some hillwork, you are in luck! The nearby volcano, Volcán Tacaná, albeit a bit farther of a commute, provides some great mountain running. A two hour collectivo (public transport) ride will get you to cooler air, altitude and some serious vertical. There are plenty of waterfalls to visit, or my personal favorite is running from Unión Juarez to Talquián (the last town before the volcano hiking trail begins). If you are a true expert and are looking to conquer a real challenge – you can run up the volcano. I hope to attempt this one day, but with a lot of training first – hiking it is fine for now.
Tapachula is definitely not your typical running town, but as you can see, there are plenty of options for the novice to expert runner. Any route you choose around town, you can find some sneaky hills mixed in there that you may not even feel are there until you realize you are exhausted. And if you want to avoid the sun and heat, you can find several local gyms around town with treadmills.
Running Around The World 