The Mayor's Team Challenge is a community-driven initiative created to expand charitable giving to local organizations across Albuquerque and Central New Mexico. Teams compete for the fastest combined race times across multiple distances.

The Duke City Marathon course starts at Mayor Kinney Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque. Harry Kinney was Albuquerque's mayor in 1984, and officially started the first Duke City Marathon together with the 15th Duke of Alburquerque (the original Spanish spelling), who traveled from Madrid, Spain, to be on hand for the inaugural event.