Mexico City Marathon organizers have disqualified 11,000 runners for cheating, after trackers revealed participants had been cutting out sections of the course.
Organizers of the marathon, which took place on August 27 and had 30,000 runners taking part, found over a third of participants had failed to complete the required distance.
The race organizers launched an investigation after receiving multiple complaints that participants had been using vehicles, public transportation, and bikes to cut out sections of the course, according to sports publication Marca.
Race tracking data subsequently revealed that the runners had not met the checkpoints placed every 5K, which ensure participants have completed the full 26.2-mile distance.
In a statement to Marca, organizers said: “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.”
Some runners have said that their trackers were faulty and they did not cheat—they say they had passed through the checkpoints but their trackers hadn’t recorded this accurately.
It’s not the first time there has been mass disqualification at the Mexico City Marathon, which race holds a World Athletics Gold Label Status—a status awarded by the governing body to road races which have met strict criteria for excellence in planning, organization and delivery. In 2017, 6,000 runners were denied their finishers medals after participants were found to have not completed the full course.
The same thing happened again the following year, when a further 3,090 participants were disqualified from the 2018 event.
Jen is Membership Director at Runner’s World, overseeing RW’s new membership programme, set to launch later this year. She has been with the brand for close to three years now – previously working as deputy digital editor, where she covered all manner of running topics, spanning training, health, injury, nutrition and gear. Over the years, she’s interviewed an abundance of awe-inspiring athletes, from top-tier ultrarunners and Olympic champions to everyday runners who have accomplished extraordinary things. Jen has been a sports journalist for 10 years; she is the former editor of Women’s Running magazine and has also worked as Sports Editor at Red Bull. She started running a decade ago and likes to dabble in triathlon a little, too. You’ll find she’s happiest plodding down the Thames path or chowing down on a post-run pastry.
