Mexico & Caribbean

Mexico City, Mexico

A Guide to the Best Places to Run in Mexico City and Nearby Suburbs

Mexico City is the capital of Mexico and the largest city in North America. This dense, sprawling high-altitude city is a busy financial and cultural center. Within Colonia Centro, is Centro Histórico, location of historic landmarks, and numerous museums. Owing to the density and traffic, running in Mexico City can be a challenge. The best places to run tend to be in the city’s large parks. If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in Mexico City, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.

Our 10k ‘runseeing’ tour of Mexico City’s key sights is a good way to orient yourself — do it on Sundays when Reforma Ave. is closed to traffic! Chapultepec Forest, just outside Colonio Centro, is the signature running spot and the largest urban park in the Western Hemisphere. In between Colonia Centro and Chapultepec Forest lies Zona Rosa, which is popular for visitors and has some nice running areas. South of Zona Rosa, there’s nice running in the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods. There’s good running around the large UNAM national university. Other running highlights in Mexico city are the Coyoacan and San Angel neighborhoods. Not far from the city, El Ocotal, Cuemanc, Bosque de Tlalpan, and Forest of Aragon are worthy running destinations. In the southern part of the city, the Ciclopista Ferrocarril de Cuernavaca is a lengthy bikeway that offers good off-road running.

There are two obstacles when running in Mexico City: altitude and pollution. At 7,350 feet, it’s important to allow yourself to become acclimated to the elevation before pushing yourself. Pollution is also a reality in Mexico City. Try planning your runs in the morning or the evening when the air quality is better. As for getting around, the metro system consists of 12 lines and 195 stations. The city’s bus rapid transit line is the Metrobús, with metro-style stations in the middle of the street, spaced at three- to four-block intervals. Peseros are gray-and-green minibuses operated by private firms.

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Some of our favorite runs in Mexico City, Mexico

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El Ocotal

Mexico City, Mexico

A forest in the Cuajimalpa delegation in Mexico City. The best time to visit is on the weekends, when it is bustling with runners and walkers. There are native tree species such as fir, ash and pine. A running circuit of about 2.15 miles is very popular.
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Mexico City enjoys mild, pleasant weather (great for running) year round. It’s climate is classified as subtropical highland due to its tropical location and high elevation. The average high is between 70 an 85 (21 to 28 12 to °C) throughout the year. Nights can be cool, as low as 5C in thw winter months. October through May is the city’s dry season, and from June through September is considered the “rainy season”. During the summer months it rains on average once a day, though the rain rarely lasts longer than a few hours. Due to the city’s location near the equator, there is not great variation in daylight length.mexico-city-climate-graph

There are numerous options for lodging in Mexico City. Some of the most reasonable places are in the Centro Histórico, while more luxurious accommodations, are concentrated in Polanco and the Zona Rosa. Staying in Centro Histórico and Zona Rosa provides access to the Historic Downtown route from your front door. Similarly, staying in Polanco (bordering Chapultepec Forest), has easy access to running routes in the forest. South of Zona Rose lie the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods. These bohemian neighborhoods feature the city’s hippest cafes and bars, from cutting-edge restaurants to offbeat shops, art galleries, and nightclubs. Condesa is close to the Chapultepec Forest routes, whereas routes from Roma are accessible through Metro transportation.stay-map-anno

There aren’t as many specialty running shops in Mexico City as in some other cities, but here are a few.

Stores

Todos a Correr Anzures and Santa Fe Locations. Specialty Run Store. Group Run Saturday 8:00am from the Anzures Store.

Trailsport Carries a wide variety of specialty items for running, triathlon and cycling.

The Triathlon Store Triathlon specialty store

Marti Sporting goods store

Run Groups and Clubs

Minimuri Location varies. Running club with free trainings.

Total Running Location varies. Running club with free trainings.

Go! Running Tours Paid running tours of Mexico City. **Big thanks for their help outlining the best running routes in Mexico City**

Events Calendars

Some of the major running events in Mexico City:

Mexico City Marathon August.

Mexico City Half Marathon July.

Rock ’n’ Half Marathon March.

Nike Women Victory Tour April. Half Marathon