MEXICO CITY MARATHON HISTORY: FOUR DECADES OF RACING AT 2,240 METERS
The finish line sits inside the stadium that hosted the 1968 Olympic Games, at an elevation where the air holds roughly three quarters of the oxygen available at sea level. Every result in the race's four-decade history has to be read with that number in mind.
The Mexico City Marathon, run officially as the Maratón Internacional de la Ciudad de México, was established in 1983. It has grown from a mostly national competition into one of the largest marathons in Latin America, a Gold Label race that draws East African elites and tens of thousands of amateur runners onto Paseo de la Reforma every August.
Born in the Running Boom
The race arrived during the running boom that swept through the Americas in the early 1980s. Its first editions were dominated by Mexican runners, and for most of its first two decades the race functioned as a national championship in practice, whatever the name said about being international.
Foreign winners appeared gradually. Eileen Claugus of the United States broke through in 1987, and Tesfaye Tafa of Ethiopia won in 1989. Around 2000 the organizers began recruiting elite international fields in earnest, and the balance of the podium shifted for good.
Altitude as Identity
Mexico City sits at roughly 2,240 meters above sea level, higher than any other major marathon venue in the world. The thin air puts a ceiling on finishing times. Winning marks that would look modest in Berlin or Valencia represent hard running here.
The course compounds the challenge. The route climbs about 65 meters from start to finish, with a rolling section between the 10K and 25K marks. There is no free speed anywhere on the course, and negative splits are rare at the front of the race.
The altitude also shapes who wins. Runners raised or trained at elevation hold an advantage that shows up in the results year after year, from the Kenyan and Ethiopian training centers above 2,000 meters to the Andean plateau.
The Course
The race starts near the Hemiciclo a Juárez in the Alameda Central, the colonial-era park at the heart of the capital. From there the route runs along Paseo de la Reforma, the city's grand avenue, passing the Torre Mayor twice as the course loops through the central districts.
The final stretch heads down Avenida de los Insurgentes toward the south of the city. The race ends inside the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, the main stadium of the 1968 Olympics, giving the field a stadium finish that no other marathon of its size can match.
The Modern Race
World Athletics granted the race Gold Label status in 2018, formalizing its place in the top tier of international road racing. By then the start lists had already changed character. Titus Ekiru of Kenya won the 2018 edition, and East African runners have taken most of the titles since.
One exception came in 2021, when the pandemic thinned the international field and Dario Castro won for the host country in a race with just over 10,000 finishers. He remains the most recent Mexican men's winner. Edwin Kiprop Kiptoo of Kenya won in 2022 and again in 2024, running 2:10:36 the second time, and Fancy Chemutai took the 2024 women's race in 2:29:19.
At full strength the event counts among the biggest sporting gatherings in the country. The 2015 edition drew roughly 35,000 participants from 60 countries.
Records at 2,240 Meters
The men's course record belongs to Hector Garibay of Bolivia, who ran 2:08:23 in 2023. Garibay grew up and trained on the Andean altiplano, and his mark stands as one of the fastest marathons ever run at such elevation. No other winner in race history has broken 2:10.
Amane Beriso Shankule of Ethiopia set the women's course record in 2022, winning in just over 2:25. The following year Celestine Chepchir of Kenya won in 2:27:17, the second-fastest winning time in the women's record book.
Both records illustrate the altitude tax. The same athletes routinely run four to six minutes faster at sea level events, which is precisely what makes the Mexico City marks meaningful to students of the sport.
An Uncomfortable Distinction
The race has also become known for mass disqualifications. Organizers removed 5,806 entrants from the 2017 results and 3,090 from the 2018 results for missing checkpoints on the course. In 2023 the number reached approximately 11,000 of the 30,000 entrants, disqualified for not completing the full distance.
The scale of the cutting drew international coverage and forced the organizers to tighten timing controls. The episode has become a case study in how large races verify that every finisher covered every kilometer.
The 2026 Edition
The next running is set for 30 August 2026, on the same weekend as the Sydney Marathon on the other side of the Pacific. The elite fields will chase Garibay's 2:08:23 and Beriso's women's mark, and more than 30,000 runners will chase the stadium finish behind them.
Four decades in, the race remains what the altitude makes it. It is the marathon where the clock lies, and where reading a result means knowing exactly where it was run.