Maratón de La Paz

Maratón de La Paz is Bolivia's flagship marathon and one of the highest-altitude marathons in the world, run through the streets of La Paz — nicknamed the 'City of the Sky' — at elevations around 3,600 meters (roughly 11,800 feet) above sea level. The course is set in La Paz's dramatic bowl-shaped topography, weaving through steep, winding neighborhood streets and descending through the city between a starting elevation near 3,570m and lower points around 3,280m. Runners face the double challenge of a demanding, hilly urban course and drastically reduced oxygen availability at altitude, making pacing and acclimatization critical. Organized annually since the early 2010s by Cristian Conitzer and Conitzer Running, the event offers marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K distances (plus a virtual option) so runners of many levels can experience the extreme-altitude setting. The race has grown into a notable fixture on the South American calendar precisely because of its rare high-altitude character.