Disney to Organize Marathon, 5K Run : Running: Anaheim races in March, 1995, would not conflict with Los Angeles Marathon, officials say.

At first glance, it was enough to make Bill Burke blanch. Disney was getting into the marathon business in Orange County, and that probably meant big money--the kind Burke, president of the Los Angeles Marathon, could not match.

That could send elite runners, those who put marathons on the running map, to Orange County.

So they talked and reached an accord of sorts.

On Wednesday, the first Disneyland Marathon and 5K run will be announced. The Los Angeles Marathon will be represented at the news conference.

The key with Disney is the 5,000-meter run.

It will be coupled with the Disneyland Marathon on March 26, 1995, three weeks after the Los Angeles Marathon, but the two, said Disney spokesman Joe Aguirre, are not in competition.

More or less.

“We’ve been in touch with officials of the Los Angeles Marathon and we’re going to be offering an arrangement whereby people can run both races at a reduced price,” Aguirre said.

Elite runners frequently compete only twice a year, and never so close together.

Burke said Monday he had received a letter of agreement to that effect and that there was an additional stipulation that Disney would run 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races and a half-marathon in 1996, with marathon runners then bused to Los Angeles to compete in his race.

“It could give Southern California the biggest running weekend in the world,” he said.

Disney’s races in 1995 will offer an unusual purse split, with $31,000 going to the 5,000-meter field and $19,000 to the marathoners. No appearance money for elite runners will be offered, said Aguirre, and the marathon, held to promote tourism in conjunction with Disneyland’s 40th anniversary, might be a one-shot deal.

Shorter races would be on-going, he said.

The Los Angeles Marathon will offer about $500,000 in appearance and prize money for its 10th race, March 5, 1995, and Burke said that world-class runners Arturo Barrios, Mark Plaatjes, Bob Kempainen, Martin Pitayo and Rolando Vera had been contracted to run.

He added that he was in contact with Olga Appell, who won in Los Angeles last year, to defend her title.

Aguirre said Disney had been in contact with runners in Japan and Mexico to run in its race, with a special emphasis on the Japanese. The two races will limit fields to 10,000 runners, with 1,500 of the spots offered to international competitors.

DisneyWorld, the company’s Florida operation, runs its own marathon, on a larger scale.

John Mansoor, with USA Track and Field and the director of the San Francisco Marathon, has been contracted to direct the Disney races. The 5,000-meter event will be run on Disneyland property, with the marathon course--which has yet to be determined--winding through the city of Anaheim.

The future of the Disneyland and Los Angeles marathons will be evaluated after this year and next, said Burke, and if the marriage is not satisfactory, the two entities will go their separate ways.

The Los Angeles Marathon has had Mercedes Benz as its primary sponsor for its entire run, but the contract runs out after the 1995 race and Mercedes has indicated that it will not renew, Burke said. However, other automobile sponsors could become involved.

The Disneyland Marathon would be the first here since Nov. 3, 1991, the last Orange County Marathon.

The event was plagued by organizational problems and poor promotion. Although organizers said the race attracted 4,000 entrants and 150,000 spectators, observers said both numbers seemed grossly inflated. Orange County Marathon Inc. struggled for months afterward to pay its bills--including off-duty police fees, vendors and competitor prize money--resulting in court actions.

A sequel was scheduled for Nov. 8, 1992, but never came off.