Did you know that Charreada is the national sport of Mexico?
This is a rodeo-like event that originated from animal husbandry practices. Equally popular in Mexico is bullfighting.
However, sports without animals also enjoy great popularity in Mexico, such as soccer. After all, the Mexican national team is a regular at soccer world championships. Boxing and basketball are also regularly practiced in Mexico.
There are also many running events in Mexico, but some of them have an ambiguous image, as we will explain using the Mexico City Marathon as an example.
The biggest running events in Mexico
The Mexico City Marathon is the largest marathon event in Mexico and is held in the country's capital. A great number of male and female runners compete in the marathon every year. However, only a few of them reach the finish line according to the rules. This is because the Mexico City Marathon has suffered for years from attempts by thousands of participants to cheat. There are two reasons for this: In the marathon, a medal is awarded every year, which receives a letter of the marathon. Therefore, many try to complete the set of medals, but without having the ability to successfully complete a marathon in the time limit. As a result, in recent years there have been repeated incidents of thousands of participants taking public transportation to cut short the course. Second cause is a possible qualification for the Boston Marathon. Registration for the Boston Marathon is only possible if you reach a limit in your age group at another event beforehand. Many runners in Mexico want to make it easier for themselves and also resort to illicit means to reach this time limit.
For tourists, however, a trip to the marathon event, which takes place annually in August, is worthwhile in principle. Just please be fair and run the entire 42.195 kilometers.
The most famous half marathon race in Mexico is the Rock 'n' Roll Oaxaca Half Marathon, which takes place in early March in Oaxaca.
Lots of triathlons in Mexico
Even more popular in Mexico is triathlon. This potential has long been recognized by the IRONMAN series, which schedules several long-distance and middle-distance races in Mexico each year. The full distance is at IRONMAN Cozumel, the half distance at the IRONMAN 70.3 races in Monterrey, Campeche, Cozumel and Los Cabos.
All Running Races in Mexico (sorted by date) can be found in the following overview:
Running competitions 2026 in Mexico
Puerto Vallarta México by UTMB®
 | 06.03.2026 ✔ |
| |
 | Puerto Vallarta |
 | 174 km (6.400 Hm) / 91 km / 47 km / 26 km / 8 km |
Marathon Tangamanga (Tangamanga-Marathon)
| 28.06.2026 ? |
| |
| San Luis Potosí |
| 42,2 km / 21,1 km / 10 km / 5 km |
Maraton Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes-Marathon)
| 25.10.2026 ✔ |
| 31.10.2027 ✔ |
| Aguascalientes |
| 42,2 km / 21,1 km / 10 km / 5 km |
Go to the running calendar Mexico
More sports in Mexico:
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