Los Angeles Marathon

Los Angeles Marathon
Date	March
Location	Los Angeles, California
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon
Established	1986
Course records	Men: 2:06:35 Markos Geneti (2011); Women: 2:25:10 Lidiya Grigoryeva (2006)
Official site	http://www.lamarathon.com Home Page

The Honda LA Marathon (formerly the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event held each spring in Los Angeles, California. The 26.219 mile (42.195 km) footrace, inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, has been contested every year since 1986. The 27th edition of the marathon is scheduled for March 18, 2012.

History

The Honda LA Marathon’s roots can be traced back to the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, where United States Olympic Committee head Peter Ueberroth introduced a new way to fund and stage large-scale, international sporting events. The 1984 Games, the second to be hosted by Los Angeles, were a critical and financial success, generating a profit of $223 million and resurrecting the foundering Olympic movement.

Seeking to capitalize on the euphoria and good will generated by the 1984 Olympics, and influenced by the growing popularity of big city marathons held in New York City and Chicago, the Los Angeles City Council sought proposals for staging a marathon. The City granted William Burke the rights to the race and the inaugural City of Los Angeles Marathon took place on March 9, 1986. The size of the field, 10,787 registrants (7,581 finishers), was the largest ever for a first-time marathon held on U.S. soil. The original course featured a loop configuration which started and finished near the historic Memorial Coliseum, the symbolic centerpiece of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games. The winners of the men’s and women’s open divisions were Americans Ric Sayre (2:12:59) and Nancy Ditz (2:36:27).

The marathon course remained consistent until 1995, though there were some minor adjustments made to the original layout. In 1996, race organizers introduced a new downtown loop course, which began at the intersection of Figueroa Street and 8th Street and finished at the Los Angeles Central Library near the intersection of Flower Street and 5th Street. Over the next decade, organizers kept the locations for the start and finish essentially intact, but experimented with different course configurations in a highly publicized effort to produce a sub-2:10 marathon. The hope was that a faster race record would improve the event’s standing in the international running community and attract more registrants. The plan to create a faster course, which included eliminating a number of existing elevation gains, was successful and in 1999 Kenyan Simon Bor established a new mark of 2:09:25.

Despite Bor’s race record, the Honda LA Marathon struggled to distinguish itself in a distance running racing calendar that grew more and more crowded as there was an increased interest in the sport (there are now over 500 organized marathons every year). While other big city marathons such as New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin and London continued to flourish and began to routinely draw fields in excess of 30,000 participants, the number of registrants in Los Angeles barely eclipsed 20,000.

In 2004, Chicago-based Devine Racing purchased the rights to the marathon. The new race organizers tweaked the course yet again in an effort to produce still faster winning times, and their efforts were rewarded in 2006 when Kenyan Benson Cherono (2:08:40) and Russian Lidiya Grigoyeva (2:25:10) broke the existing race records. The 2006 race also broke records for the number of registrants (25,947) and finishers (20,169).

In 2007, race organizers completely overhauled the course layout, turning the Honda LA Marathon into a point-to-point race which began near Universal Studios in Universal City and concluded at its customary Central Library finish line. In 2009, the course reverted back to its downtown loop layout. That same year, the new management team, in an effort to appease religious leaders of churches located near the route who for years had complained that street closures on race day negatively impacted their parishioners’ ability to attend Sunday service, changed the start date to Memorial Day on Monday, May 25th. The date change proved to be problematic as there was a 17% drop in participation, and the Los Angeles City Council quickly agreed to schedule the next race for the following March.

The 2010 silver anniversary edition of the race, and the “Stadium to the Sea” course, marked the first time that parts of the marathon were run outside the city limits of Los Angeles. While the new course still starts near downtown Los Angeles, it now runs through the eclectic communities of West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

There are currently 195 Legacy runners who have completed every edition of the Los Angeles Marathon.

Course

The new “Stadium to the Sea” course not only includes a net elevation drop of 430 feet (130 m), but it also incorporates many iconic landmarks for which Los Angeles is world renowned.

After circulating around historic Dodger Stadium, the third oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, the course negotiates past Chinatown and its famous Twin Dragon Towers Gateway, El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Park, the oldest section of the city, and two of the latest additions to the city’s cutting-edge architectural heritage: the Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, designed by Rafael Moneo. At mile 6, the course winds through the communities of Echo Park and Silver Lake before linking up to Sunset Boulevard, where it offers runners a picturesque view of the celebrated Hollywood sign.

For the next eight miles (13 km), the course guides runners past such other notable Hollywood landmarks as the Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Comedy Store, the House of Blues Sunset Strip and Whiskey A Go Go. After leaving West Hollywood, the course wends through the heart of Beverly Hills and straight down Rodeo Drive, one of the most affluent, highest profile shopping thoroughfares in the world.

From Beverly Hills, the course continues west to Century City, a commercial and residential district originally developed on land which comprised the backlot for 20th Century Fox studios. The “Stadium to the Sea” course includes six miles (10 km) along Historic Route 66, a celebrated national highway that for decades spanned 2,451 miles (3,945 km) from Normal, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. It also traverses through the grounds of the Veterans Administration, a sprawling facility originally founded in 1887 which now houses, among other things, the VA’s West Los Angeles Healthcare System. After leading race participants into the community of Brentwood, the course continues along San Vicente Boulevard, a popular, pedestrian-friendly street which attracts runners of all abilities 365 days a year. The final three miles (5 km) of the marathon are set in Santa Monica, where the course eventually runs along scenic bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and it concludes on Ocean Avenue near the Santa Monica Pier and its stunning solar-powered Ferris wheel.

The Challenge

In 2004, the Honda LA Marathon introduced a battle of the sexes competition called the “Challenge” to generate more interest in television viewership. In the “Challenge,” the elite women’s field was granted a 20:30 head start on the elite men’s field. The first marathoner to cross the finish line would earn a bonus of $50,000. Russian Tatyana Pozdniakova won the inaugural “Challenge” by beating Kenyan David Kirui by 3:54. The “Challenge” proved so successful that the amount of the bonus was increased first to $75,000 in 2005 and then to $100,000 in 2006, where it has remained ever since. Each year the time handicap of the “Challenge” is calculated using the differences in the lifetime best marathon times of the elite women and men participating in the LA field. Of the eight “Challenges” to date, a female has crossed the line first on four occasions and a male has crossed the line first on four occasions. The closest margin of victory in the “Challenge” was 16 seconds in 2006.

Innovation

The Honda LA Marathon has always had a reputation for being creative and innovative with its race management.

In 1987, six students at East Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights High School enrolled in a marathon training program offered by teacher Harry Shabazian. The Students Run L.A. organization has grown dramatically since its inception, and today thousands of students from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District participate in the six month program that promotes physical fitness, discipline and goal setting. More than 33,000 students have been a part of Students Run L.A. and 90% of them have completed the marathon.

In 1987, race organizers experimented with creating a division for race walking, and in the early 1990s they created a division for inline skating. While race walkers are still welcome in the marathon in an informal manner, inline skaters were only allowed to compete for one year.

In 1995, race organizers introduced the Los Angeles Bike Tour, a noncompetitive event in which cyclists were permitted to ride along a lengthy portion of the marathon course before the official start of the marathon. One of the regular participants of the bike tour was former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. New management discontinued the bike tour in 2009 to return the focus of race day to the runners.

In 1996, the Honda LA Marathon was the first major U.S. marathon to adopt field-wide chip timing in which each participant’s performance is measured using a transponder and radio receivers located at the strategic points along the course. Chip timing is now a common feature at most organized marathons.

In 2002, race organizers offered participants the option of wearing personalized bib numbers so that their names would be prominently displayed for spectators viewing the race. Personalized bib numbers are now a familiar sight at many marathons.

In 2009, the Honda LA Marathon became the first big city marathon to fully adopt social media outlets such as Facebook, YouTube, RSS, Flickr and Twitter to not just promote the race, but to also allow participants to connect with one another and to be immediately alerted of all marathon-related developments.

Quick Facts

• As is the case with most large scale marathons, the Honda LA Marathon is as much about giving as it is running, and since its inception it has raised over $20 million for various charities throughout the community.
• Boxing great Muhammad Ali served as the honorary race starter for several years between 1989 and 2004.
• 1984 Olympian Joan Benoit Samuelson still holds the record for the fastest women’s marathon ever run in Los Angeles (2:24:51) which she accomplished during her gold medal winning performance.
• In addition to the $100,000 “Challenge” bonus, the purse for the 2011 Honda LA Marathon included $25,000 and a new Honda Insight EX sedan for the top male and female finishers.
• The most decorated performer in Honda LA Marathon history is Mexican Saul Mendoza who has won the Wheelchair Division seven times.
• The Honda LA Marathon Expo, staged at Dodger Stadium on the Friday and Saturday before marathon day, is one of the largest road racing expositions in the world.
• A 5K run/walk, a fixture on marathon weekend since 1990, draws in excess of 4,000 participants every year.
• Notable entertainment personalities who have participated in the Honda LA Marathon include Freddie Prinze Jr., Shia Labeouf, Gordon Ramsay, David James Elliot, Flea and Chris O’Donnell.

Students Run LA

In 1987, six students at East Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights High School enrolled in a marathon training program offered by teacher Harry Shabazian. The Students Run L.A. organization has grown dramatically since its inception, and today thousands of students from throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District participate in the six month program that promotes physical fitness, discipline and goal setting.

On March 4, 1990, two dozen teachers from around the city joined the three co-founders, with students from their respective schools, and together, they all ran in the Los Angeles Marathon V. In 1993, Students run LA spun off from LAUSD and became an independent 501(c)(3) organization. Today, that one teacher and his handful of students have grown to 500 teachers and 3000 students from 170 schools and community programs throughout Los Angeles.

Since 1989, more than 39,000 students have been served by SRLA. The growth of the program has only increased its success. Each year:

• More than 95% of the students who start the marathon, finish the full 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) course
• More than 95% of the seniors who run the marathon graduate from high school
• More than 90% of SRLA graduating seniors have plans to attend college

Inspired by the success of SRLA, a pilot project was begun with the Montreal Marathon and Students on the run (Étudiants dans la course) was created with the first objective to complete the September 2010 Montreal Marathon. There were 19 students to begin with and 12 completed the 2010 event. The program continues with a new group and a new objective, complete the 2011 event.

Top finishers

Romanian athlete Nuța Olaru at the 2009 edition

Ages of top finishers in the Masters category are given in parentheses.

Key:       Course record

Year
Category	Men		Women
2011 Results March 20, 2011
Open	Markos Geneti	2:06:35	Buzunesh Deba	2:26:34
Masters	Juan Jose Ortiz Jauregui (44)	2:44:10	Svetlana Ponomarenko (41)	2:38:56
Wheelchair	Krige Schabort	1:33:15	Shirley Reilly	1:57:25
2010 Results March 21, 2010
Open	Wesley Korir	2:09:19	Edna Kiplagat	2:25:38
Masters	Juan Ramirez (41)	2:39:35	Linda Somers-Smith (48)	2:36:33
Wheelchair	Krige Schabort	1:31:51	Amanda McGrory	1:53:12
2009 Results May 25, 2009
Open	Wesley Korir	2:08:24	Tatyana Petrova	2:25:59
Masters	Martin Rindahl (45)	2:43:17	Carista Strickland (47)	3:14:45
Wheelchair	Aaron Gordian	1:31:19	Amanda McGrory	1:48:13
2008 Results March 2, 2008
Open	Laban Moiben	2:13:50	Tatyana Aryasova	2:29:09
Masters	Fermin Sequen (40)	2:34:34	Tatiana Titova (42)	2:51:32
Wheelchair	Saul Mendoza	1:31:12	Cheri Blauwet	1:53:35
2007 Results March 4, 2007
Open	Fred Mogaka	2:17:14	Ramilya Burangulova	2:37:54
Masters	Yoshihisa Hosaka (58)	2:49:06	Ramilya Burangulova (45)	2:37:54
Wheelchair	Kurt Fearnley	1:23:40	Shelly Woods	1:50:55
2006 Results March 19, 2006
Open	Benson Cherono	2:08:40	Lidiya Grigoryeva	2:25:10
Masters	Jose Ortiz Pina (43)	2:33:23	Lyudmyla Pushkina (40)	2:41:15
Wheelchair	Ernst Van Dyk	1:24:48	Shirley Reilly	1:55:23
2005 Results March 6, 2005
Open	Mark Saina	2:09:35	Lyubov Denisova	2:26:11
Masters	Ezequiel Hernandez (41)	2:45:01	Tatyana Pozdnakova (50)	2:31:05
Wheelchair	Kurt Fearnley	1:30:11	Cheri Blauwet	1:51:45
2004 Results March 7, 2004
Open	David Kirui	2:13:41	Tatyana Podznyakova	2:30:17
Masters	Reynaldo Ramirez (40)	2:35:38	Tatyana Podznyakova (49)	2:30:17
Wheelchair	Joel Jeannot	1:27:08	Cheri Blauwet	1:54:02
2003 Results March 2, 2003
Open	Mark Yatich	2:09:52	Tatyana Podznyakova	2:29:40
Masters	Robert Leonardo (40)	2:40:46	Tatyana Podznyakova (48)	2:29:40
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:27:07	Cheri Blauwet	1:50:06
2002 Results March 3, 2002
Open	Steven Ndungu	2:10:27	Lyubov Denisova	2:28:49
Masters	Jose Díaz (46)	2:41:07	Tatyana Podznyakova (47)	2:30:26
Wheelchair	Ernst Van Dyk	1:28:44	Ariadne Hernandez	1:55:01
2001 Results March 4, 2001
Open	Steven Ndungu	2:13:13	Elana Paramonova	2:35:58
Masters	Raymond Baradas (41)	2:38:43	Teresa Boches-Saban (44)	3:05:20
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:32:50	Ariadne Hernandez	2:04:30
2000 Results March 5, 2000
Open	Benson Mutiisya Mbithi	2:11:55	Jane Salumäe	2:33:33
Masters	Marco Ortíz (50)	2:27:33	Judy Maguire (41)	2:58:21
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:42:33	Jean Driscoll	2:12:17
1999 Results March 14, 1999
Open	Simon Bor	2:09:25	Irina Bogacheva	2:30:32
Masters	Federico Yax	2:32:19	Judy Maguire	2:54:12
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:28:43	Deanna Sodoma	2:03:44
1998 Results March 29, 1998
Open	Zebedayo Bayo	2:11:21	Lornah Kiplagat	2:33:58
Masters	Peter Rischl	2:31:53	Candy Clark	3:08:56
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:29:57	Kazu Hatanaka	1:56:55
1997 Results March 2, 1997
Open	El-Maati Chaham	2:14:16	Lornah Kiplagat	2:33:50
Masters	Yoshio Ishizuka	2:36:14	Philomena Chandra	3:03:10
Wheelchair	Saúl Mendoza	1:37:27	Louise Sauvage	1:49:22
1996 Results March 3, 1996
Open	Jose Luis Molina	2:13:23	Lyubov Klochko	2:30:30
Masters	Hugo Juárez	2:33:26	Lorraine Gersitz	3:11:50
Wheelchair	Heinz Frei	1:27:10	Jean Driscoll	1:46:09
1995 Results March 5, 1995
Open	Rolando Vera	2:11:39	1 Nadia Prasad	2:29:48
Masters	John Bednarksi	2:36:40	Alfreda Iglehart	3:13:29
Wheelchair	Paul Wiggins	1:36:06	Jean Driscoll	1:52:51
1994 Results March 6, 1994
Open	Paul Pilkington	2:12:13	Olga Appell	2:28:12
Masters	Gregg Horner	2:34:20	Emma Scaunich	2:37:05
Wheelchair	Phillipe Couprie	1:34:52	Connie Hansen	1:48:58
1993 Results March 7, 1993
Open	Joselido Rocha	2:14:28	Lyubov Klochko	2:39:48
Masters	Dennis Bock	2:36:32	Candy Dodge	3:03:10
Wheelchair	Jan Mattern	1:32:15	Connie Hansen	1:51:26
1992 Results March 1, 1992
Open	John Treacy	2:12:29	Madina Biktagirova	2:26:23
Masters	Manuel García Pérez	2:25:35	Sandra Marshall	3:02:47
Wheelchair	Jim Knaub	1:40:53	Connie Hansen	1:56:17
1991 Results March 3, 1991
Open	Mark Plaatjes	2:10:29	Cathy O'Brien	2:29:38
Masters	John Campbell (42)	2:14:33	Priscilla Webb	2:40:20
Wheelchair	Jim Knaub	1:40:43	Connie Hansen	1:57:11
1990 Results March 4, 1990
Open	Pedro Ortíz	2:11:54	Julie Isphording	2:32:25
Masters	John Campbell (41)	2:20:15	Graziela Striuli	3:26:48
Wheelchair	Moustapha Badid	1:45:40	Ann Cody-Morris	2:03:49
1989 Results March 5, 1989
Open	Art Boileau	2:13:01	Zoya Ivanova	2:34:42
Masters	John Campbell (40)	2:17:51	Carol Mather	3:02:57
Wheelchair	Jim Knaub	1:46:52	Candace Cable-Brookes	2:07:03
1988 Results March 6, 1988
Open	Martín Mondragón	2:10:19	Blanca Jaime	2:36:11
Masters	Bob Schlau	2:19:27	Harolene Walters	2:54:18
Wheelchair	Bob Molinatti	1:56:35	Candace Cable-Brookes	2:19:38
1987 Results March 1, 1987
Open	Art Boileau	2:13:08	Nancy Ditz	2:35:24
Masters	Victor Mora García	2:19:44	Barbara Fituze	2:47:21
Wheelchair	Ted Vance	1:54:06	Candace Cable-Brookes	2:05:45
1986 Results March 9, 1986
Open	Ric Sayre	2:12:59	Nancy Ditz	2:36:27
Masters	Kjell-Rick Stahl	2:19:20	Harolene Walters	2:57:26
Wheelchair	Bob Molinatti	2:16:36	Candace Cable-Brookes	2:23:10

Note 1: From New Caledonia, a territory of France.

Highlight videos

• History of the Honda LA Marathon, with Toni Reavis
• 1986 Highlight video, with Toni Reavis
• 1988 Highlight video, with Toni Reavis
• 1994 Highlight video, with Toni Reavis
• 2000 Highlight video, with Toni Reavis
• 2006 Highlight video, with Toni Reavis
• Denny Smith discusses history of the Legacy Runners

External links

• Honda LA Marathon
• Honda LA Marathon photo gallery
• 2000-2007 Results (source of ages of masters winners)
• 2007 Results (source of masters winners 2005-2007)
• 2006 Results
• 2005 Results
• 2004 Results
• 2003 Results
• 2000 Results