Mayor Karen Bass is the honorary starter as 22,000 runners take off this morning on a 26.2-mile trip around the city for the 38th annual Los Angeles Marathon. If she has any advice for competitors this year, it could be “watch your step.” Light rain greeted the runners before dawn, which made the course slicker than usual, but officials had vowed to fill as many of the this year’s storm-spurred potholes as possible.
The 38th #LAMarathon is underway @dodgerstadium pic.twitter.com/X364DddaaY
— David Crane (@vidcrane) March 19, 2023
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The race launched at Dodger Stadium at 6:30 a.m. with the wheelchair racers. The hand crank racers followed at 6:35 a.m. The women’s elite field came next at 6:41 a.m. After some words of inspiration from Mayor Bass, the elite men’s field took off at 7 a.m. sharp.
“Congratulations for turning out today to make our city proud,” the mayor declared.
Related: Margaux Curcuru looking for redemption after barely crossing the finish line last year
After weeks of record-setting wet weather, organizers warned runners to watch for road damage, though crews had been out fixing storm-battered streets for days. Participants — and the spectators aiming to cheer them on — were greeted by a cloudy, wet, 58-degree morning on Sunday, March 19, with light put persistent showers that paused as the race began. The worst of the rain from a small storm swooping in to the north was expected to divert away from L.A., but light showers were expected as the runners strode though the morning.
Winds whipped around Dodger Stadium, however, making it feel cooler than the thermometer revealed. Mylar blankets and plastic ponchos were plentiful around the participant-filled parking lot.
The moist morning didn’t deter Grace Chiu, clad in colorful running garb that included Wonder Woman knee socks.
“Last year I was so excited, I stopped every mile and took pictures,” said Chiu, eager to start her second marathon. “But this year I’m going to be more serious.”
For runners young and old alike, the “Stadium to the Stars” course starts at famed Dodger Stadium, winds through some of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods including Chinatown, downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, with its finish in Century City.
Race officials worked with the Bureau of Street Services to fill in such hazards along the route before race day, according to Dan Cruz, the marathon’s head of communications.
Although runners should watch where they step, they can also catch a glimpse such landmarks as the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, Los Angeles City Hall, Little Tokyo, Disney Hall and Music Center of Los Angeles County, Dolby Theater in Hollywood, part of Historic Route 66 in West Hollywood, and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills before finishing in Century City.
KTLA is broadcasting the race live on TV and online. Their coverage began at 6 a.m., followed by a post-race show from 10-11 a.m.
“I have to finish and I will,” said Sean Williams, who declared that his first marathon was his chance to make a statement about the LGBTQ community.
“When I think about these kids today with the suicide rates for gay and transgender kids, it’s really really bad for them,” Williams said, adding that any support he can provide his community is invaluable.
Williams’ running outfit, a scaled-down lace wedding ensemble complete with lace top and tulle tutu, symbolizes that he is married to his running hobby, he said.
The race is presented by ASICS, a Japanese multinational corporation that produces sportswear. The name is an acronym for the Latin phrase “anima sana in corpore sano” translated by ASICS as “a sound mind, in a sound body. The race has drawn more than 22,000 runners from all 50 states and 67 nations, its largest field since 2020 when it had a record 27,150 entrants, the 21st time in 22 years it topped 20,000 entrants.
When the marathon was next run in November 2021 — eight months later than usual because of restrictions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic —there were more than 13,000 entrants, organizers said. There were 14,300 entrants for the 2022 race.
From Dodger Stadium, competitors are headed through downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and Brentwood then back through Westwood to Century City, with the finish line for the “Stadium to the Stars” course on Santa Monica Boulevard between Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East.
When the first runner crosses the finish line around 9 a.m. it will be 57 degrees, with southerly winds about 5 mph, Lisa Phillips, a weather service meteorologist, told City News Service.
There is chance of light rain from the late morning through the rest of the day, Phillips said.
The elite women start 18 minutes, 19 seconds ahead of the elite men for the race’s Morgan & Morgan Marathon Chase, with the overall first finisher receiving a $10,000 bonus. The time difference is based on a calculation of the differences in lifetime finishes among the top seeded entrants.
The chase was part of the marathon from 2004 to 2014, with women winning seven times and men four. It was discontinued in 2015 when the race served as the USA Marathon Championships. It was revived last year with Delvine Meringor becoming the eighth female winner.
The men’s and women’s winners will each receive $6,000, the second-place finishers $2,500 and third-place finishers $1,500. The men’s and women’s wheelchair winners will each receive $2,500.
The men’s race has been won by a Kenyan every year since 1999, except for 2011, 2014 and 2020 when it was won by Ethiopians. A U.S. runner last won in 1994.
African women have won 10 of the last 13 races, including Meringor in 2022. Runners from the former Soviet Union won twice in the past 13 races. Natasha Cockram of Wales won in 2021. A U.S. runner last won the women’s race in 1994.
The 38th #LAMarathon is underway @dodgerstadium pic.twitter.com/kg5xEi1Ub1
— David Crane (@vidcrane) March 19, 2023
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The field includes 107 legacy runners who have run all 37 previous editions of the race, including 81-year-old Sharon Kerson of Culver City, who will be running her 600th marathon. Her first was the inaugural 1986 Los Angeles Marathon.
Kerson will have to walk to finish the marathon. It is expected it will take her nearly 10 hours to complete the race.
On the course are more than 3,100 runners from Students Run LA, an after-school mentoring and physical fitness program offered at more than 185 public schools in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
The race has 80 charity partners, with runners raising more than $2.5 million.
Unlike recent LA Marathons in the coronavirus era, there was practically no sign of the pandemic. Few runners masked up and runners and spectators faced no L.A. County Public Health Department restrictions to attend.
“As we emerge from the pandemic more and more people are comfortable in large gatherings and the increased field size aligns with year-over-year growth in race participation across the country,” Dan Cruz, the marathon’s head of communications told City News Service.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell ran with a group of runners from the Skid Row Running Club he founded in 2012 as a way to help its members get a second chance at life as they battle their addictions.
The roots of the club come from a man Mitchell had sentenced to prison, then contacted him through The Midnight Mission.
“For some reason he decided he liked the way I treated him, even though I sent him to prison,” Mitchell said. “He looked me up and introduced me to The Mission.”
Mitchell soon decided the best way to reach the people was through running.
“There are so many little things that emanate from this very basic idea of just running,” Mitchell said.
Since then, he has led three weekly training sessions around downtown Los Angeles — six-mile runs on Mondays and Thursdays and up to 18 miles on Saturdays.
“I’m not a great runner,” Mitchell said. “But the crucial thing is my willingness to devote time to this enterprise.”
Source: Orange County Register
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