Maratón Mérida Banorte

I was working in Merida and signed up to do the marathon whilst I was there. Incredible atmosphere at the start of the race with the Monument del patria lit up and a good route around the city. A good number of people running the race without being too crowded and was able to find a group running at my pace. Lots of runners from around Mexico and quite a few international runners. Course is relatively flat but gets hot as the race goes on. Achieved a PB of 3:10 but had spent quite a bit of time training in the heat to acclimatise. Make sure you are used to the heat or have trained in the heat as gets hot in the second half of the race.

What a brilliant event! Didn't really know what to expect but this was the most spectacular start to a race I've seen - a lights display on the Monumento a la Patria as all the runners gathered, then to whip up the runners they blasted out the national anthem and let off loads of fireworks! It kicked off at 6am so was still dark and looked brilliant. Not a huge crowd for the marathon but I found a small group at my rhythm for the first half, then the heat cranked up a bit and I had to drop off. This is winter in Yucatan but if you're not used to a strong sun and you don't get lucky with the weather, be prepared to feel it from 8 onwards. Not a PB course as a result (Keter won the race in 2'20 which is way less than his best), and I was about average in the field at 4'24, but if you're not PB hunting and want to do a fun race with friendly runners in a beautiful city it's the perfect option. Only thing lacking were more crowds on the roads, but there were bands and groups cheering which always helps. Great medal (with a pyramid, I guess Uxmal, on it) and a t-shirt for a reasonable price - highly recommended race!

If you do the half you will finish before it gets hot so a PB could be on the cards, it's a completely flat city.