LOS ANGELES MARATHON DAILY REPORT : One of Event’s Major Sponsors Is Pulling Out After Sunday’s Race

The Los Angeles Marathon lost one of its major sponsors Tuesday, when John Hancock Financial Services announced it will not renew its five-year sponsorship agreement with the race, which expires after Sunday’s race.

The firm is one of six of the race’s major sponsors, and its annual contribution is reportedly about $250,000. However, race President William Burke said he will announce at Sunday’s race the name of a sponsor to take Hancock’s place.

At the same time Hancock is dropping the L.A. Marathon, the company has augmented its agreements with the New York Marathon, which has a new five-year contract, and the Boston Marathon, which has a 15-year agreement with the Boston-based company.

Hancock’s sports marketing consultant, Jack Mahoney, said the L.A. Marathon--in its seventh year--has never received the kind of visibility that Hancock expected.

“Our credo is we want an athletic event that deserves national and international coverage,” Mahoney said. “It never got the visibility of our other events. You could also say that the fields weren’t as good, that’s a factor.”

But Hancock, which has most of the world’s best marathon runners under contract, sent only one--Rosa Mota--to Los Angeles.