My first marathon. Great spectators. The course had a lot of small streets that were difficult to run on due to parked cars. I will run it again.

The start at dawn on Calle 20 de Noviembre, just off the huge Zocalo Plaza with the fireworks, was one of the most memorable starts in my 156-marathon career. The running tour of Mexico City ran past all of the important monuments and parks. Huge, highly-visible kilometer banners, ample water and Gatorade, a nice finisher medal, and a goody bag and drinks afterward were nice. Altitude doesn't bother me, so that was no factor. The temps were actually lower that what I'm used to running in the Mid-Atlantic East USA, so that's a plus. I did run well here. Some suggestions to travelers: fly in Friday, and stay at the Holiday Inn Zocalo. Walk around see the nearby sights Friday. Take the Turibus (9 a.m.) on Saturday, and see more of the sights and stay off your feet. Get off at the WTC and pick up for packet (stop 2 on the south loop of the Turibus). See more sights, get back and chill and carbo load. The start finish is just around the corner at the south end of the Zocalo, extremely convenient. Mexico City, the second largest city in the world, is an interesting place. I highly recommend this summer marathon; it's worth the trip.

This was by far the best marathon experience I've ever had! The half marathon started at 8:50 a.m., which I was kind of upset about at first since it was so late in the day. But this was more than made up for by the amazing crowd support. I've NEVER seen as much crowd support for a marathon like Mexico City's. It's amazing to see all Mexicans from all walks of life run together.

The course was flat, and scenic. It takes you through a beautiful part of Mexico City and then to the Zocalo. It's challenging. The pollution and altitude definitely add about 5-10 minutes to your overall time, so don't plan on PRing. There is plenty of water ALL along the route, but port-a-potties only at the beginning, middle and end... so don't brave street food the night before. The best part was at the end, when you run into Zocalo and a massive crowd cheers you to the bitter end.

Overall, an amazing experience that I hope to repeat year after year.

This is a lot of fun to run, the start and finish on the Zocalo is probably the best in all of marathoning. It's a great vacation marathon, but probably not a place for a PR with the altitude (especially for someone from sea level like me), and some of it is run on brick streets. It is essentially flat except for a few overpasses, which are short but steep. But you get an incredible tour of Mexico City. You get your water in a bag, which takes some getting used to, and they don't have clocks on the course, so hope your watch battery doesn't die the night before the race, like mine did.

The organization of the marathon was excellent; before the start, all people are located in different streets according to their estimated time, so people assemble at the starting line without getting jammed. Always water and Gatorade during the course, and there were even cheerful members of the crowd offering Coke, candies, and oranges. Cloudy weather and no heat in August. The course is mostly flat; the only drawback was a little incline from 26K to 30K (or mile 16 to mile 19), which is harder at 2,200 meters (or 3,500 feet) of altitude. Overall, a great marathon.

The Mexico City Marathon is great - there is so much energy. It's not a problem if you don't speak Spanish - the people are very kind; they will find someway to communicate with you and help you. Also bring your own toilet paper; there are a lot of porta-potties on the route but none of them have toilet paper. However, once you start running and become part of the excitement it all works out and you end up having an awesome time.

I don't know, but my first experience there was just amazing, the weather is always cool, and the people cheerful all the time. The simple idea that you are running over an ancient Aztec city, covered by colonial buildings, is awesome. You have all the support and the organization is very good, despite the enormous number of participants.

It was my first marathon and I will run it again in 2004. The course is full of interesting monuments and places such as the anthropology museum, El Angel de la Independencia, el Zocalo, etc. Organization is good and there were thousands of people in the streets to support the exhausted runners at the very last miles.

This was my first marathon, the course is flat, and with a great sight spots, it starts and finishes over the 'zocalo', a giant square were tenochtitlan was stablished, the first half is a long simple street 'churubuco' but the second half is very beautiful -insurgentes (a comertial street) WTC mexico, Chapultepec, Museum of Antropology, Reforma, Angel de la Independencia and Bellas Artes, the fans were great, a lot of families over the first half with water, flags, etc, the runners are so fun, some with costumes like cows, trees, skulls, some with large flags with pro-peace messages, The organization was great, a lot of water, gatorade, power gel, ice, and medical centers, it was a very emotive experience and a challenging one, the city is 7500ft above sea level.

It is Clearly Mexico, thousands of people from all socioeconomical and educational levels running in the same place at the same time. On of the few experiences to see all kinds of Mexican people together in one same place.
Of course you can see the Legendary Tarahumaras running bare foot as well as the fastest most qualified Mexican runners fighting for the WR's and their best PR against our Kenian friends.
People is just lovely, thousands of Mexicans supporting runners offering you from Orange slices, water, juices, candies and even beer! (I mean it, I've been offered beer in '98).
The race itself is not the best if you go for a PR given the huge amount of people, however the course and the folklore that surrounds it makes well worth the experience and the trip.
It is a tough race though given the altittude here.