6:33 finish, 24/38 place overall.
Very unique and scenic but brutally hard race centered around the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque (the “lost city”) in the jungle of southeastern Mexico.
The first couple of miles are on trails and stairs through the ruins themselves - nice scenery but lots of walking. After leaving the ruins, most of the marathon is on very hilly dirt roads past farms and through small rural villages. Mixed in there is a four kilometer section on narrow trails that is insanely steep and muddy with several river crossings. There is very little running in that section and the main goal is just to get through it without spraining an ankle or getting bitten by a snake. Once back on the dirt roads, the steep hills and extreme heat make it very hard to run fast if at all. The final few miles are less hilly but have almost no shade and temperatures by that point in the low 90s - lots of on and off walking just to avoid complete heat exhaustion.
This was my second hardest and slowest standard marathon ever, aside from Pikes Peak in 2011, and by far the hottest. Interesting challenge but glad to be done with it.
Photos will be linked later.