This Saturday, September 16 is the scheduled date for another edition of the Tamarindo Beach Marathon, and this year the event will begin earlier, at 4 a.m. to avoid the strong heat and benefit the participants.

In the past years the event has started at 5 a.m. or 4:30 a.m. but in these cases some runners conclude the race in hours of very strong sun which makes it very difficult for the athletes.

The Tamarindo Beach Marathon is one of the most important marathons in the country and Central America and it offers four categories, 10 km (6 miles), 21 km (13 miles), 30 km (18.6 miles) and 42 km (26 miles).

This year the number of competitors in each of the categories grew by a almost 50%, in the 42 km runners went from 164 in 2016 to 350 this year, while in the 30 km it went from 244 to 415; however, the participation of foreign competitors did go down this year, the organization expects runners from Panama, Mexico and New York.

The races start and finish outside the Hotel Tamarindo Diriá; registrations are now closed but as reference for future events had a cost of $60.00 for the 10 km race, $85.00 for the half marathon and the 30 km categories, while the 42 kilometers registration involved a fee of $110.00