Hundreds of people turned out on Sunday morning for the Matamoros 10K race.
The event drew participants from both sides of the border as well as elite runners from Kenya.
Runners started in the Plaza Hidalgo and went through a course that took them 6.2 miles through the city's historic center, down Calle Sexta, to the loop and back again.
Brownsville resident Peter Lounsbery said it was his first time and he'll be back.
Lounsbery ran in the race and then passed out flyers to promote an autism awareness 5K race to be held in Brownsville on April 16th.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Lounsbery said about the race. “It's interesting to see all the elite runners, all the Kenyan runners. They all train, as I've been told up in the mountains of Zacatecas.”
Organizers said more than 700 people participated in the race, which was sponsored by local television station XHAB-TV was followed with a big celebration in the Plaza Hidalgo.
Joel Cortinas with the Matamoros-based Las Tortugas runners club said the event it getting more and more popular each year.
“Each year more and more people participate,” Cortinas said in Spanish. “More and more people want to be healthy and fight obesity and diabetes.”
Matamoros Mayor Alfonso Sanchez said the race is only one of several public events held in the city each year.
He said organizers had plenty of security on hand and no incidents were reported on Sunday.
“I invite our brothers and sisters in Rio Grande Valley to come and participate in this and other events,” Sanchez said.
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