Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th February at the Fundidora Park in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, the second leg of the IAAF Challenge will take place.
For Mexico this event is also valid as a selection for the Games of Central America and the Caribbean that will take place in Barranquilla (July 12, 2018 - August 3, 2018), as well as for the IAAF World Race Walk Team Championships which will be held in Taicang, China, the next 5-6 May.
20km
The men's 20-kilometer race will be held Saturday at 2.00pm, while the women's competition at 4.00pm.
Women
Among the top athletes we find the name of Maria Guadalupe Gonzalez (MEX), silver medalist in the 20 km of the Rio 2016 Olympics and silver at the World Athletics Championships in London 2017, which of course is also the Mexican leading figure present in Monterrey.
Fighting for the victory with the Mexican will be Erica De Sena (BRA), Kimberli Garcia (PER) and Ana Cabecinha (POR) together with Ines Henriques (POR).
Among the outsiders it will be interesting to see the race of Laura Garcia-Caro (ESP), Viktoria Madarasz (HUN) and Valentina Trapletti (ITA).
The following table shows the personal best and season best of the individual athletes for the benefit of our readers
| Athlete | Nation | Personal Best | Season best |
| | | | |
| Favorite | | | |
| GONZALEZ Maria Guadalupe | MEX | 1:26:17 | 1:26:17 - 2017 |
| DE SENA Erica | BRA | 1:26:59 | 1:26:59 - 2017 |
| GARCIA Kimberly | PER | 1:29:13 | 1:38:03 - 2018 |
| CABECINHA Ana | POR | 1:27:46 | 1:30:59 - 2018 |
| HENRIQUES Ines | POR | 1:29:00 | 1:30:08 - 2018 |
| Outsiders | | | |
| GARCIA-CARO Laura | ESP | 1:29:29 | 1:29:29 - 2017 |
| MADARASZ Viktoria | HUN | 1:30:05 | 1:30:05 - 2017 |
| TRAPLETTI Valentina | ITA | 1:30:25 | 1:30:35 - 2017 |
Men
Claiming for victory in the men's competition in Monterrey will not be easy, given the number (and the names) of the pretenders to victory.
We list them starting with Caio Bonfim (BRA), Evan Dunfee (CAN), who won the Memorial Jerzy Hausleber in 2017 in 50km.
The others: Perseus Karlstrom (SWE), Miguel Angel Lopez (ESP), Lebogang Shange (RSA) and Wayne Snyman.
The following table shows the personal best and season best of the individual athletes for the benefit of our readers.
It will be very interesting to check the results of the distance comparison between the performances obtained last weekend in Kobe (JPN) and New Delhi (IND), but particularly those of Kobe, and how much the athletes will be able to get in Montrerrey (MEX) albeit with a slight altitude.
| Athlete | Nation | Personal Best | Season best |
| | | | |
| BONFIM Cario | BRA | 1:19:06 | 1:19:04 - 2017 |
| DUNFEE Evan | CAN | 1:20:13 | 1:21:22 - 2017 |
| KARLSTROM Perseus | SWE | 1:19:11 | 1:20:30 - 2018 |
| LOPEZ Miguel Angel | ESP | 1:19:14 | 1:19:57 - 2017 |
| SANGE Lebogang | RSA | 1:19:18 | 1:19:18 - 2017 |
| SNYMAN Wayne | RSA | 1:20:46 | 1:21:06 - 2017 |
50km
The 50km will take place on Sunday at 7.00am
Men
At the male level, the names of Andres Chocho (ECU) and Havard Haukenes (NOR) stand out, boasting the best personal bests.
But the numerous Mexican patrol composed of José Leyver Ojeda (MEX), Horacio Nava (MEX), Pedro Daniel Gomez (MEX), Luis Amauri Bustamante (MEX), Julio Cesar Salazar Henriques (MEX) and Omar Zepeda (MEX) certainly want to give the two main contenders a hard time.
The following table shows the personal best and season best of the individual athletes for the benefit of our readers.
| Athlete | Nation | Personal Best | Season best |
| | | | |
| CHOCHO Andres | ECU | 3:42.57 | 3:47:37 - 2017 |
| HAUKENES Haward | NOR | 3:43:40 | 3:43:40 - 2017 |
| OJEDA José Leyver | MEX | 3:45:09 | 3:45:09 - 2017 |
| NAVA Horacio | MEX | 3:42:51 | 3:47:53 - 2017 |
| GOMEX Pedro Daniel | MEX | 3:48:04 | 3:48:04 - 2017 |
| BUSTAMANTE Luis Amauri | MEX | 3:48:45 | 3:48:45 - 2017 |
| SALAZAR Julio Cesar | MEX | 3:52:30 | 3:52:40 - 2017 |
| ZEPEDA Omar | MEX | 3:45:28 | 3:45:28 - 2016 |
Women
There are six female athletes registered and among them stand out the names of Mariela Sanchez Teran (MEX) and Erin Taylor-Talcott (USA) at the second 50km in just over a month, having both competing in Santee, CA (USA) last 20.1.2018 where they finished the race respectively first in 4:46:12 and third in 4:50:16.
It will be very interesting to see them to the test in an attempt to improve their season's performance.