Lost City Marathon

22 Feb 2025

Route & Elevation

The Lost City Marathon will test your trail running skills. Be as prepared as possible to conquer the race with info about elevation and route.

The Lost City Marathon features two distances:

Full marathon - 42.195km/26.2mi

Half marathon - 21.1km/13.1mi

Route and elevation maps available soon!

Route map

Route Description

 

Starting at the Archaeological Zone of Palenque, the race takes you past remnants of the ancient Maya city and guides you along lush jungle trails.

After 3km the route transitions to an asphalt path leading downhill until it takes a left turn onto a gravel road. Continuing for a few more kilometers, the route approaches the foothills of the mountains, where it begins to ascend gradually.

Half marathon runners take a right turn for a nice relatively flat loop on gravel road around picturesque ranches and past the village of Cárdenas, which leads them to the finish line. 

Marathon runners keep ascending the mountain towards the village of El Naranjo, but just before reaching the village the route breaks of from the gravel road and ventures onto narrow trails leading further into the mountains and the lush jungle.

The river Chacamax is crossed a couple of times and some very intense hills must be climbed.

After roughly 10 kilometers on mountain and jungle trails, the route takes the runners into the village of El Naranjo. From here on, the path is more or less downhill leading to the intersection where the half marathon runners previously branched off.

Marathon runners will now also run the loop around the green and lush ranches to finish in the same place as the half marathon runners. 

Please note:

Do not forget that this is first and foremost an adventure. We are far away from comforts of home and this makes it impossible to offer services at the same level usually provided in city marathons.
 

Route Logistics

The route is marked with arrow signs, orange trail marker flags and kilometer markers. At crucial sections red & white danger tape and/or race crew will point runners in the correct direction.

Kilometer signs are color-coded according to the distance they represent.
Marathon = black
Half-marathon = red

Water stations will be positioned along the route at approximately every 3,5-4 kilometers. All stations will serve clean mineral water and electrolyte drinks (elderflower flavor). Bananas will be served after approximately 30km for the marathon.

Please see the route map for aid station specifics. 
 

Start / Finish

The marathon and half marathon have start and finish in the same places.

Start at Palenque Archeological Zone.

Finish at La Chiapaneca restaurant.

Surface

The route is mainly run on gravel road with a few short parts on asphalt and a stretch on the Sendero Motiepa trail.
Marathon runners will also have approximately 10 kilometers on narrow mountain trails through jungle forest.