Mexico marathon disqualifies 36% of their runners due to cheating

Apart from being a successful but mentally and physically demanding sport, the marathon is also a form of healthy recreation. Thousands of participants from all over the world are participating in the full or half-marathon races in popular street marathons. But, believe it or not, there are some people who are participating but also like to cheat from time to time, without an apparent reason, just like in Mexico, where the organizers of the Marathon had to disqualify 11000 out of 30,000 participants due to cheating.

It was a nice occasion, the 40th-anniversary edition of the race in Mexico City, and it happened on August 27, but problems arose after the race. The organizers received a huge number of anonymous complaints and had to investigate the matter. According to Marca, complaints were made over the distance, or the lack of it, in fact. Runners were accused of using vehicles and public transport during the race to shorten the 41km course. What’s more strange is the fact that runners had electronic trackers on, which means they could be tracked, and yet they committed the fraud.  

“The Mexico City Sports Institute informs that it will proceed to identify those cases in which participants of the XL Mexico City Marathon Telcel 2023 have demonstrated an unsportsmanlike attitude during the event and will invalidate their registration times. This great event not only represents an outstanding celebration for all the inhabitants of the capital, but also an occasion to reaffirm the transcendental values of sport“ reads the statement from Mexico City Sports Institute.

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Even with a 40-year tradition, the Mexico Marathon already faced this kind of problem in the past, like in 2017, when 6000 runners were disqualified (20%), or 3090 runners in 2018. All finishers at the Mexico Marathon receive a medal, which this year included Mexico City's Latin American Tower on its design.