Running in Mexico City: Chapultepec and Paseo de la Reforma

I already wrote about running in Mexico City and Chapultepec in particular when I first visited this huge and vibrant city for the first time in August 2012.

However, this time, I had my camera so let me offer a visual tour of this nice neighborhood including the most opulent Polanco with the most expensive avenue in Latin America: Presidente Masaryk.

I flew right after my great Way Too Cool 50K race on Saturday evening and landed shortly after 4am. I slept a few hours upon getting to my room to complement the short 4-hour red-eye. I was then up for a recovery run which I intended to do on the 3K-loop in the park of Chapultepec (see one of the many distance markers, in meters).

However, on a Sunday and in a city of 22 million people, that was not counting on the herd of locals who converged to this particular place to enjoy the warm and sunny afternoon.

There was also a green/sustainable development fair on the 3K-loop course and the crowd made running impossible. On the other side of the park, people were lining up to drop their recycling at stations and get points.

I just completed one loop and decided to venture in the city without a map.

First, I ran on the Paseo de la Reforma along the park. Between two sets of busy car traffic lanes, this is an interesting dirt (quite dusty actually) trail, a straight 1.6 miles. If you stay at one of the nearby hotels on Campos Eliseos (not as large and fancy as the Parisian Champs Elysées!), and the Chapultepec is closed (it opens at 5am I believe but in case you are jet lagged and want to run at night), this may be an alternative good place to log a few miles.

I don't know for how long the exhibit will remain, there is a great collection of bronze sculptures from Jorge Marin currently on display on this Paseo de la Reforma section (plus a more eclectic collection of modern art sculptures on a bell theme).

After passing the impressive and majestic Auditorio Nacional, I explored the wealthy Polanco neighborhood, home of several international communities including the French one, and a display of quite a few of the most luxurious brands (fashion, watches, cars, ...).

With 17 client and business partner meetings over 5 days and two cities (Mexico City and Monterrey), I could only run twice, early in the morning: a half marathon on Wednesday morning (7 laps in Chapultapec) at 6:54 min/mile and 15 kilometers on Thursday. Not much mileage but a good altitude training at 7,375 feet or 2,250 m elevation!

Again, enjoy a few (~70) pictures of Chapultepec and Polanco in my Picasa album.