I completed the route solo. This was my last long run before the 2020 Caballo Blanco race at the end of February.
My gear included:
- Salomon ADV skin 12 vest (with 2 x 500 ml bottles)
- Altra Superior 4.0 shoes
- Lifeproof socks
- Rhone shirt and running shorts
- Tesla compression briefs
- iPhone X
- Power bank and charger
- Wireless earbuds
- 1l Platypus bottle
- Long sleeve Nike quickdry
- Columbia Houdini wind jacket
- Merino buff
- Cap
- 500 pesos cash + credit card
- Pepper spray :-(
Took an Uber to the start of the race. The driver saw my kit and mentioned that he ran the Berlin Marathon the year before and gave me a fist-bump of good luck as I left his car. A cool start, with some of the city's active residents walking and cycling along the track.
The first 20-30km was easy going and there were friendly path maintenance crews every 10km or so. Ample opportunity to buy water, bars and pandita jelly beans at the little tiendas along the way. Stopped halfway for a giant huarache, some salty mushroom soup and fresh orange juice at a roadside restaurant.
Between the 35 and 55km marks, you only run past ranchos and the path is very quiet. It felt relatively safe (the only robberies -- of cyclists -- that I could find researching the route happened closer to Tres Marias) but I would definitely not recommend for solo female runners.
There were refueling tiendas for the last 8km again (with three friendly street doggos joining me for 2km or so).
Tepoztlán was bustling by the afternoon as I got in, with groups of young people walking down the streets with their large micheladas. Had some street snacks (the the corn itacates), an ice cold "only medium" sized 1 litre Corona beer, walked (read: limped) over to the bus stop outside of town and slept on the way back to Mexico City.
Looking forward doing this again, potentially starting at Chapultepec Park or elsewhere in the middle of Mexico City (which will make it around 80kms).