Marathon in Just the Right Place : Organizers refused to cave in to fears about running through riot areas

Last spring’s riots could have driven the marathon out of the inner city, but organizers confidently resisted giving in to the fears of others. Led by L.A. Marathon President William A. Burke, they refused to abandon the traditional route through South-Central Los Angeles, downtown, Chinatown, Koreatown, Hancock Park and Hollywood--a route that showcases the city’s diversity.

Perhaps a few fearful runners will stay away Sunday, avoiding the 26.2-mile athletic ordeal because it includes some palm-lined streets that became riot corridors after the acquittals in the Rodney G. King case. Thousands, thankfully, will come anyway, seeking victory on the streets of Los Angeles.

Those who participate in the eighth annual run will start at the historic Coliseum, scene of two Olympic track and field competitions. They will run through the concrete canyons downtown, on to Chinatown, through Elysian Park, on to the star-marked paths of Hollywood, toward the mansions of Hancock Park. They will run through the mid-Wilshire district, past Koreatown’s bustling stores toward the newly rebuilt stores in the Crenshaw district. They will see few ruins of the riots as they move past the small bungalows along Exposition Boulevard and back to their starting point in a city very much on the mend.

Los Angeles wants to be one city, not a Balkanized collection of us-against-them neighborhoods. Calm prevails despite some premature fears stemming from the federal trial of the officers accused of violating King’s rights and the upcoming state trial of the four men accused of beating trucker Reginald O. Denny.

A marathon is an appropriate metaphor for the recovery. Creating jobs, loosening credit, ending insurance redlining, encouraging homeownership, reducing crime and increasing justice in the heart of Los Angeles will test our endurance. But, like Sunday’s runners, endure we will.

The original marathon--in ancient Greece--relayed a message of victory from Marathon to Athens. Sunday’s race, the second-largest marathon in the nation, will also relay a victory message: Los Angeles is open for business, for fun . . . and all manner of marathons.