A Mexican politician who suffered a humiliating defeat in Mexico's 2006 presidential election, tried his luck in the over-55s section of the Berlin Marathon, winning the event only to be disqualified later for taking a short cut.

Mexican politician Roberto Madrazo, running oddly on a long skintight pants, complemented with a wind breaker, a hat, caught the attention of New York-based marathon photographer Victor Sailer, who alerted race organizers.

"It was so obvious to me, if you look at everyone else in the picture, everyone's wearing T-shirts and shorts, and the guy's got a jacket on and a hat or whatever," Sailer said.

Scrutinizing an electronic chip tracking Madrazo's time and course, organizers said they found no result for the checkpoints at 25 and 30 kilometers.

Based on the chip, Madrazo took only 21 minutes to cover the 15 kilometers between the 20-kilometer and 35-kilometer marks.

"Not even the world record holder can go that fast," said race director Mark Milde in confirming Madrazo had been disqualified.

In 1994, Madrazo won the Tabasco state governorship amid allegations he spent tens of millions of dollars more than the legal campaign spending limit which was later confirmed by Mexico's attorney general in 1996.

In his bid for the 2006 presidential elections, his opponents plastered walls with posters reading: "Do you believe Madrazo? I don't either!"