Marathon Results Are Slow in Coming, but Interest Builds

As has become customary, a record number of people ran in Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon but lots of their results still are not in.

There were 17,040 entrants and 12,759 finishers. The crowd that lined the streets was estimated at 1.6 million by police, the largest ever to watch the L.A. Marathon. But race results remain a problem. Some were available Monday morning but some of those were incorrect.

Even so, race director Bill Burke pronounced himself pleased with the race, which he said is beginning to develop its own personality. Referring to Sunday’s dramatic men’s race, in which seven men were vying for the lead after 20 miles and two during the last mile, Burke said it would be hard for future races to top such drama.

Considering the growth rate, future L.A. Marathons may have entry limits. Burke said he was studying limiting the numbers of U.S. entrants to 17,500 and foreign entrants to 6,000.

At major marathons such as New York’s, more runners want to enter than the race can accommodate. Races cannot provide adequate water stations, first aid and security for an infinite number of people.

Some popular races, such as Boston’s, require entrants to have qualifying times.

“We think now that 23,000 is really all we can accommodate with our services,” Burke said. “We think we’ll have a special category for alumni runners, those who have run in our race before, and allow them a first chance to sign up.”

At a press conference Monday, the race winners indicated that they would not be taking the cars they won back to Mexico. Blanca Jaime and Martin Mondragon, both of whom live in Mexico City, said they had been told that the taxes on the luxury automobiles would be high.

Mondragon, who won in a course-record time, said that he was used to driving smaller cars. “I would be afraid to drive the car in Mexico City,” he said. “I would be afraid I would crash it.”

Jaime, a 22-year-old secretary, does not have a driver’s license.

More than 2 million people watched part or all of Sunday’s marathon, according to the Channel 13 research department.

The three hours of live coverage averaged a 12.5 Nielsen rating, making it the most-watched sports event of the day in the Southland.

A 12.5 rating translates to about 581,000 homes, or 12.5% of the Los Angeles market’s 4.65 million homes. The share was 33, meaning that 33% of the television sets in use at the time were tuned to the marathon.

Other Sunday sports ratings: Lakers-Dallas, 9.5; Doral Open golf, 8.1; Dodgers-Houston exhibition baseball, 6.0; UCLA-California basketball, 4.9; Pittsburgh-Syracuse, 4.4; North Carolina-Duke, 2.5, and Kemper Open women’s golf, 1.7.

The New York City Marathon last Nov. 1 got a 10.0 rating in New York and a 2.4 in Los Angeles.

The first L.A. Marathon, in 1986, had a 13.0 L.A. rating; and last year’s race averaged 9.6.

Times staff writer Larry Stewart contributed to this story.