To Hollywood and Back--It’s the L.A. Marathon

Los Angeles, which is to marathons what Boston is to surfing contests, has taken strides toward respectability in staging its 26.2-mile race in recent years.

Gone are the memories of such fiascos as the 1983 L.A. Lite Marathon, which degenerated into a mass of bumping bodies after the participants took a wrong turn, and the 1985 Valley Marathon, canceled when a macaroni company pulled out as a sponsor.

The 3-year-old, city-sanctioned Los Angeles Marathon, which begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, can boast of live television coverage by KCOP Channel 13, numerous sponsors (including an Official Marathon Foot Powder) and sideline singers, ranging from mariachis to a James Brown look-alike and the real Fabian.

World-class runners are in short supply partly because of the nearness of Olympic qualifying trials and because of complaints over the relatively small amounts of prize money offered (slightly augmented by the RTD’s offer of free rides to entrants wearing race numbers).

However, giving the marathon a characteristic Southern California look as it wends its way from the Coliseum through downtown to Hollywood and back are several off-beat notables, including:

French waiter Roger Bourban, immortalized in the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest time (2 hours, 47 minutes) in a tuxedo while carrying a tray and champagne bottle and ignoring cries of “Garcon!”

The Aggie Human Centipede, a group of 13, whose specialty is competing while joined at the heads by a piece of cloth (best total time: 36:18:31, or 2:47:34 per pede).

Dribbler Mark Harwell, who reportedly bounced a basketball up 30 stories of the Century Plaza in just under four hours (a course record). He vows to become the first person to dribble a marathon.

“Joggler” Albert Lucas, honored by Guinness for running a 3:58:28 marathon while juggling three balls.

Lucas sees himself as a man with a cause--winning respect for jugglers.

“People always wonder if I’m going to run in orange hair and floppy shoes,” Lucas said. “Juggling isn’t taken seriously here but it is in Europe. Hockey and basketball players in the Soviet Union are taught to juggle to increase their hand-to-eye coordination.”

(Fans of orange hair and floppy shoes will be relieved to know that a Studio City comedienne known as Robin the Clown will run the marathon in full regalia.)

Celebrity Runners

Adding the inevitable glitzy touch are several television performers scheduled to run, including Corbin Bernsen (“L.A. Law”), Mary Hart (“Entertainment Tonight”) and Jack Scalia (“Dallas”). Meanwhile, celebrity seniors such as Cesar Romero, 81, Iron Eyes Cody, 71, and Norman Fell, 63, will participate in a 3-mile walk-a-thon.

“This must be a really big event,” Fell cracked. “It’s the only one I know of that can get people in Los Angeles to walk.”

Preparations for the marathon have been touched by controversy.

Sharlene Wills, a 40-year-old blind woman who runs with a guide dog, accused marathon officials of discrimination and enlisted Gloria Allred as her attorney when told that she must be accompanied by a sighted person as well. Officials later relented.

The grumbling over the prize money led to a boycott by past race winners Ric Sayre and Art Boileau, causing marathon President William Burke to sound a defensive note:

“Boston has run 91 times, New York 19. People always want to compare us to their fields. If you can name another marathon that has done as well as we have in three years, I’ll eat my hat.”

Nostalgic Quality

Actually, several one-time stars, such as 40-year-olds Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, are competing, lending the nostalgic quality of an old-timers’ baseball game to the race.

In the past, race officials have spoken of the no-name Los Angeles race as a “people’s marathon” and, again this year, several entrants deserve awards for determination, including hypnotist Frank Genco, who has only one leg but uses a roller skate and crutches; Tony Fisch, who is legally blind; and such seniors as Mavis Lindgren, 81 (participating in her 49th marathon), and Bill Kowalisyn, 66 (in his 107th).

Other trudgers will be there on a lark, like sometime-10-kilometer man Greg Horbachevsky, who was inspired by a recent Times article about last year’s last-place finishers and has set his sights on the back of the pack.

Ethnic Diversity

Along the route, the entertainment lineup reflects the ethnic diversity of the city, with Indian tribal dancers near the Coliseum, kimono dancers in Little Tokyo, ribbon and fan dancing in Chinatown, mariachi groups near Olvera Street, Jewish and Israeli folk guitarists along Sunset Boulevard, Playboy bunnies along Hollywood Boulevard and jazz trios near the corner of Pico and Crenshaw.

One eye-catcher at the 20-mile mark (where runners often say they hit a mental “wall” of exhaustion) will be a canvas bridge stretching over the route.

As they pass underneath, runners are invited to hit the bull’s-eyes painted on the bridge with empty cups, sponges, orange peels or whatever they have handy, said race commissioner John Stearns, as a way to “take out their frustrations and (get) the little burst they need to finish.”

Lucas, the juggler, says he will pass up the temptation.

At the finish line, near the Olympic statues outside the Coliseum, runners will be invited by a corporate sponsor to make one free phone call to anywhere in the world.

Runners Jack Slater and Bonnie Weller, both of Hampton, Ill., hope that the others’ conversations won’t be too loud and drown out their marriage ceremony. They’re taking the vows at the finish line.

WHAT THE MARATHON MEANS TO MOTORISTS

Parts of downtown will be a no-drivers’ land during the Los Angeles Marathon Sunday.

SURFACE STREETS

The city Department of Transportation says that these portions of the route will be closed to automobile traffic at intervals:

5-9:30 a.m.: Figueroa Street from Martin Luther King to Exposition boulevards; Exposition from Figueroa to Hoover Street.

8-9:30 a.m.: Figueroa from Exposition to 6th Street.

8:15-10:15 a.m.: 6th from Figueroa to Spring; Spring from 6th Street to 2nd Street.; 2nd Street from Spring to Central Avenue; Central from 2nd Street to 1st Street; 1st Street from Central to Main; Main from 1st Street to Macy.

8:25-10:50 a.m.: Macy from Main to North Spring; North Spring from Macy to College; College from North Spring to Broadway; Broadway from College to Sunset Boulevard; Sunset from Broadway to Alvarado Street.

8:35-11:30 a.m.: Sunset and Alvarado to Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont Avenue.

8:50 a.m.-noon: Hollywood and Vermont to Hollywood and Vine Street.

9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Hollywood and Vine to Sunset and Vine.

9:10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Sunset and Vine to Rossmore Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

9:20 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Wilshire from Rossmore to Catalina; Catalina from Wilshire to 8th Street; 8th Street from Catalina to Western Avenue; Western from 8th Street to Olympic; Olympic from Western to Crenshaw Boulevard.

9:35 a.m.-2 p.m.: Olympic and Crenshaw to Crenshaw and Rodeo Road.

9:45 a.m.-2:45 p.m.: Crenshaw and Rodeo Road to finish outside Coliseum.

FREEWAYS

Caltrans, meanwhile, will close the following freeway ramps during the race:

Harbor Freeway (110) off-ramps at 6th Street.

Hollywood Freeway (101) on- and off-ramps at Hollywood Boulevard; southbound off-ramp at Vine Street and Gower Avenue.

Santa Monica Freeway (10) on- and off-ramps at Crenshaw.

Information about changes in bus service during the marathon may be obtained by calling (213) 626-4455 or the RTD toll-free number in local directories.

Parking will be prohibited on all race course streets between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.