Dozens Of Runners Racing San Diego–Tijuana Binational Half Marathon Came Back to Towed Cars

Dozens of runners at Sunday’s Binational Race, a half-marathon that starts in San Diego and finishes on the beach in Tijuana, came back across the border to find their cars had been towed. Many of them spent Sunday afternoon waiting to collect those cars from Western Towing, FOX 5 San Diego first reported, and some paid hundreds of dollars each to get their vehicles back.

Organizers say every one of those cars was parked somewhere the race never approved. Several runners dispute that, and one says race staff pointed him to the lot where his car was taken.

The race, now in its third year, is built around the border. Half-marathon runners start at 6:50 a.m. outside Las Américas Premium Outlets in San Ysidro, run through Tijuana River Valley Regional Park and cross into Mexico on foot at around 10K, on a lane of Interstate 5 set aside for them while the crossing is open to the race. The finish is at Playas de Tijuana. Getting home is slow: the race’s shuttle runs from the finish area to the border between 9 a.m. and noon, and runners then clear U.S. customs on foot and walk back to the outlet mall, according to the race weekend page. Anyone who parked in time for the 5:30 a.m. bib pickup could be away from the car for most of the morning. Last year the race expected more than 4,000 runners in the half alone.

That same page offered two places to leave a car. Las Américas, it said, would let runners park on race day “without the risk of being towed,” and Baja-Mex Ped West Parking, farther along Camino de la Plaza, charged runners with a bib $12.

In a statement to FOX 5, the Binational Race Team said “all reported towing incidents occurred at the San Ysidro Village parking lot, near Ross and Popeyes,” a property “not designated or communicated by Binational Race as an authorized parking location.” It added that “no Binational Race staff members were assigned to direct or manage vehicle traffic or parking within or outside Las Americas Premium Outlets.” Organizers also told San Diego Red they had seen no evidence of a car being towed from either approved lot.

Alex Rodriguez’s car was one of those taken from San Ysidro Village, and he told FOX 5 he only parked there because race staff told him to. “The team for Binational was instructing us to park in a parking lot,” he said. “When we got back, our car was gone.” He said he was then told the tow was his own fault, which he rejects: “it’s not our fault when the official people of Binational Half Marathon instructed us to park there.”

Bernice Diaz’s account cuts against the race’s. She told the station that she and her sister had parked at Las Américas, one of the two approved lots, and that her car was towed anyway. Connie Mendoza, who drove down from Los Angeles and also lost her car, said emails, Instagram messages and phone calls to the organizers had all gone unanswered. “Who’s going to give our money back?” she asked.

California is fairly strict about towing from private lots open to the public. Under Section 22658 of the state Vehicle Code, a sign of at least 17 by 22 inches must be posted at every entrance warning that unauthorized cars will be removed at the owner’s expense, and a property owner who orders a tow without meeting those conditions is liable for double the towing and storage charges. The San Diego City Attorney’s office notes that each tow needs the property owner’s written authorization and that disputes can go to small claims court without a lawyer. Nothing reported so far says whether San Ysidro Village was signed that morning, or who called Western Towing.

It is the second border race this month to run into trouble off the course. A week earlier, runners in Windsor, Ont., missed the start of the Detroit Free Press Marathon when their tunnel bus never came back for them. The Binational Race has not said whether it will help anyone with the cost of getting a car out of the impound yard.