L.A. Marathon is world-class in own way
The Los Angeles Marathon is not a high-profile race, like its counterparts in Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin and London.
The course, which begins at Universal Studios and ends at Fifth and Flower streets, is too hilly and uneven to attract elite athletes.
The early date -- six weeks before the historic Boston marathon and a month before major marathons in London and Rotterdam -- excludes it from the calendars of top distance runners.
Its 8:15 a.m. start for the main field is too late for many runners’ taste because most finish in late morning and can suffer on a hot day. In addition, the $215,000 prize purse is puny compared to purses in Boston, New York and Chicago that exceed $500,000.
Organizers have tried to elevate its status by increasing prize money, wooing elite runners and flattening the course.
“Spent a fortune,” said William A. Burke, president of the City of Los Angeles Marathon.
The investment didn’t pay off. This race, with its accompanying bike tour and wheelchair races, remains a people’s marathon. And in many ways, that’s splendid.
Running the L.A. Marathon isn’t about training for the Olympics.
It’s about self-esteem. Camaraderie. Fitness. Discipline.
Discovering that reaching a goal is as exhilarating when you’re in middle school as when you hit middle age.
It would be terrific to have a world-class marathon here, just as it would be terrific to have an NFL team playing in a stadium that wouldn’t cost taxpayers a penny.
Neither figures to happen soon. Until then, it’s worth appreciating the L.A. Marathon for what it is instead of bemoaning what it may never become.
The marathon, to be run today for the 23rd time, gave Thomas Doty motivation to get his life back.
Doty, 18, was a drug addict at 15. He got clean after completing a rehabilitation program at the Dream Center, a nonprofit Los Angeles organization that provides food, shelter, clothing, education and job training to inner-city residents.
He weighed 320 pounds before fellow Dream Center residents persuaded him to train for last year’s marathon. He will start this year’s race at 225 pounds, running with about 15 other kids and adults from the center.
“I love it because it’s a good addiction,” Doty said. “I found something I love to do.”
The L.A. Marathon helped Aaron Baker regain his independence.
Baker, of Santa Clarita, broke his neck in a 1999 motocross accident and was told he’d be a quadriplegic. He and his mother, Laquita, rejected that verdict and worked tirelessly to carry him beyond the limits his doctors foresaw.
They rode a tandem bicycle in the previous three bike tours. Today, he will ride alone, and then hoof the final mile of the marathon with friends.
“The experience I gained has been absolutely invaluable,” said Baker, who walks with a single-point cane.
“This is a wonderful event and the years we’ve participated, we’ve seen so many family members and friends and gotten such energy from the people on the streets.”
The L.A. Marathon is a rite of spring for Mary Hack, 69, of Redondo Beach.
Some friends and fellow runners suggested they enter the first race in 1986. “I said OK, and here I am 23 years later,” said Hack, among the 249 expected “legacy” runners who will have competed here each year.
“I had no intention of quitting. It’s a hometown run. And the city does come out for it, they really do.”
The marathon shows the best of Los Angeles and, sometimes, its worst.
It traverses a city with picturesque vistas and rundown streets, a city with a diverse population that unites to salute strangers running past their homes and shops
“There’s hardly any spots where there’s not anyone,” said Wheeler, who has run eight marathons. “Just to have people cheering on every corner in every neighborhood, beating pans and yelling for you is the most amazing thing.”
It’s as remarkable as the thousands of middle-school kids from Students Run L.A. who develop self-esteem and responsibility from running each year.
As impressive as the millions of dollars runners raise annually for the marathon’s official charities and other causes.
As impressive as the memory that will be created today when 30 SWAT officers conduct a torch relay to honor Randal Simmons, their recently slain brother.
One of his supervisors, Sgt. Chuck Buttitta, said Simmons had participated in the marathon by pushing the wheelchair of a quadriplegic child along the course. Saluting him today is so very right.
“Randy was not monolithic,” Buttitta said. “He spanned his family, community, and the department and he served the citizens of Los Angeles. This is the Los Angeles marathon.”
Like this city, it’s flawed, but it has a heart as big as the legions who will set foot and wheel to pavement today.
Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.
