WATCH: A Race Worker Knocked Him Down at the Finish. He Will Miss the Mexico City Marathon.

A veteran amateur runner in central Mexico, José Julio Mendoza, has lost his place in the 43rd Mexico City Marathon he spent weeks training for, after a race worker knocked him to the pavement near the finish of a smaller event and injured his shoulder. He had been running that race without a registration number.

The moment, caught on video that spread widely on Mexican social media, happened on Sunday at the fourth Carrera de Colores, or color run, held during the annual town fair in Huamantla, in the central state of Tlaxcala. Mendoza, a veteran of more than 55 races who is known locally as Don José, had nearly finished the route when the staff member moved in front of him about two meters (six feet) from the line. He fell backward onto the pavement. Other runners and onlookers, not event staff, helped him up.

Mendoza had tried to enter the color run, but the numbered entries had sold out, according to his account as reported by the newspaper Excélsior. He ran the route anyway, without a number and knowing he was not eligible for a medal or a prize, as part of his preparation. Running a race without registering, known as banditing, is a recurring problem for organizers, because entry caps are written into city permits and the water, medical cover, timing and insurance are all sized to the paying field.

Organizers also carry what race directors call a duty of care to everyone on the course, registered or not, and they can be held liable if an unregistered runner is hurt. That duty is the reason the accepted responses to a bandit are narrow ones: turn the person away before the start, decline to record a time, or withhold the medal.

As the video circulated, it drew widespread criticism in Mexico, and a series of responses followed. The staff member was identified from the footage as Ricardo Romano Corona, a member of Zona T, the private company that organized the event. He later posted a video of his own accepting responsibility and apologizing. Zona T issued a public apology and said it would review how it controls access to the finish area.

The mayor of Huamantla, Salvador Santos Cedillo, said the town government had not organized the race and had provided only logistical support, and that any possible crime should be investigated. He said he rejected any act that put a person’s safety at risk, particularly that of an elderly person.

Mendoza said this week that he had reached an agreement with the family of the man who knocked him down. The family agreed to cover his medical costs, he said, and he would not pursue a complaint. The mayor helped broker the talks, which the man himself did not attend. Mendoza was treated for a shoulder injury and underwent tests for a suspected fracture or dislocation.

The race he had trained for, the Mexico City Marathon, is one of the largest in Latin America and will start on Aug. 30 with a field of about 30,000. Mendoza had planned to run it in the veterans category. He has said the shoulder will keep him out.