This year’s CDMX Half Marathon honored the 700th anniversary of the founding of the great Tenochtitlán. With quetzals on their chests and dreams on their feet, 30,000 runners turned the capital’s dawn into an act of resistance, memory, and community.
Before the city had fully awakened, there were already those paying homage.
At six o’clock in the morning, under the protection of the Caballito Tower and with the silence barely broken by the bated breaths of thousands, the 2025 CDMX Half Marathon began. It wasn’t just a race. It was a collective ceremony.
A modern ritual that transformed Paseo de la Reforma into the new thoroughfare of the Mexica warriors.
This year, the race celebrated the 700th anniversary of the founding of Tenochtitlán, and it wasn’t just another symbolic milestone: it was the soul of this year’s race. From the official shirt to the medal, everything breathed heritage. The quetzal—a symbol of the sacred, the free, the eternal—led the design and also the energy that moved the 30,000 registered runners.
The route was simple in form, but profound in substance: starting on Reforma at the Caballito, heading west to Prado Sur, and making a U-turn to return. But what happens in those two directions is anything but ordinary: boundaries are broken, promises are made, personal battles are honored, and cycles are closed.
“The entire route is crowded, so it’s cool… of course it motivates us, right? When we’re tired, hearing those shouts, those cheers, well, it gives you that extra boost,” shared Alejandro Pacheco, a visually impaired runner who completed the course with the help of his guide, Rafael Bañales.
Among the 30,000 runners was Jorge Luis Cruz, who described the course as “quite demanding.”
“One for the altitude and the other for the route. This half marathon is very challenging… but I’m happy to be running in my country and in my city.”
The best part?
“The people… hearing your name, the cheers, it’s very motivating.”
And like a true runner at heart, she dedicated her achievement with all her heart: “To my team, my family, my friends. This fourth place is for them.”
Another figure who shone without seeking the spotlight was the experienced Margarita Hernández, who traded the podium for company:
“This time I took the pressure off of chasing a podium finish. I accompanied my teammates as they set the pace… and I loved it.”
Seeing the route through different eyes, listening to the cheering bands, waving to the crowd… all of this gave the race a new meaning:
“I had never fully appreciated the route, and this time I was able to see many spaces in Chapultepec Park. The route is very beautiful… it’s not just a sporting event, it’s also a cultural event.”
Indeed, the images were repeated: tears, hugs, trembling knees, smiles that seemed like lightning bolts through the sweat. And the medal… that object of desire that many kissed as if it were a talisman, didn’t just recognize the physical effort. It recognized the human being who, for a while, refused to be emotionally sedentary.
Running in this city is complicated. Because of the altitude, the asphalt, the frenetic pace of life. But this time, running was also a way of resisting.
It was a way of remembering that there was once a great city on the lake, and that even though the canals are gone, the spirit of Tenochtitlán lives on in every step taken with honor.
And on Sunday, in Reforma, more than 30,000 souls did it at the same time.
Source: milenio
