‘Legacy Lou’ has ideas for new L.A. Marathon management

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In the two years that I’ve been reporting on the Los Angeles Marathon’s financial troubles, I’ve learned that marathoners are a proprietary bunch.

Sure, the city of Los Angeles owns the “L.A. Marathon” name and logo. And, last month, Dodger owner Frank McCourt paid an unknown amount for rights to operate the annual race.

But the L.A. Marathon really belongs to the runners. Without them –- and their willingness to put in the requisite training and pay $100-plus in registration fees –- there would be no race.

Runners don’t need anyone to speak for them. I have received dozens of e-mails and phone calls from marathoners who are worried about their race. (I have also heard from frustrated suppliers, contract workers and vendors who have struggled to get paid in recent years, as well as volunteers who have grumbled that their involvement hasn’t been properly appreciated.)

But a handful of long-time runners suggested that I talk to Lou Briones, aka “Legacy Lou,” a 60-year-old athlete who has run every one of the 23 L.A. Marathons. He’s one of about 250 legacy runners -– athletes who’ve never missed a race.

How dedicated is Briones to the L.A. Marathon? In addition to running every one of them, he has created an e-mail list that includes most of the other legacy runners. He, along with many of those runners, has been deeply concerned about his race’s future.

Concerned enough that, when the Chicago-based company that had operated the marathon in recent years ran into financial difficulties, Briones began to talk with fellow legacy runners about holding their own race.

“Come race day, the traditional race day, we’d do our own race,” Briones said. “We’d wait for stoplights, but we’d do the run and call it the L.A. Marathon.”

That plan went by the wayside after McCourt closed his deal.

Going The Distance, a company funded by McCourt and operated by L.A. businessmen Russ Pillar and David Kingsdale, plans to stage the 24th L.A. Marathon on Feb. 16, 2009 -– a Monday and President’s Day holiday. The race course will remain the same -– though there apparently is talk of tinkering with the finish line to lessen race-day traffic disruptions.

‘It’s great that someone with bucks came along to be the white knight to save the marathon,’ Briones said. ‘We’ve known for a couple of years that the marathon has been in financial troubles. Last year we were really wondering if we were even going to have another marathon.’

Briones is glad that the race seems to be upon firmer financial ground. But like many

runners -– legacy or not –- he is still concerned about the race’s future.

He understands the political forces that prompted the city to ask that the race be changed from the first Sunday in March to President’s Day. But he’s frustrated that church leaders who pressed for the change weren’t more open to working to make the Sunday race work.

He’s worried that the date change will hurt attendance – and cause financial pain for runners, including one in Canada who’ve already made airline reservations for the first Sunday in March. And he fears that it will be harder for the new marathon operating company to attract the thousands of volunteers needed to make the race a success.

He also wonders: “Who will be mentoring the new owners as to what’s been going on for 23 years because it takes a lot of connections to make this race work.”

For his ‘final 2 cents’ worth of advice, Briones suggests that McCourt “go back to the route that we had for the first 10 years. It was the best course ever.”

He also offered to sit down whenever it’s convenient with McCourt, Pillar and Kingsdale to more fully explain the concerns of legacy runners.

-- Greg Johnson