Accused Runner

Regarding “Protest Again Following Runner, 67” (May 16), about Richard Roodberg, the runner accused of cheating in the L.A. Marathon: Several years ago my wife and I were following the marathon runners on our bikes. The course proceeded west on Hollywood Boulevard to Highland, then turned east on Sunset Boulevard and back to Vine Street. We decided to take a shortcut and head straight south on Vine and hook up with the runners there.

To our surprise, we saw a prominent runner we both knew [not Roodberg], his jersey in his hands, walking on Vine. He pointed to his calf with a pained expression as if to indicate an injury. The next morning we were shocked to find his name listed in The Times as having finished 20th overall, with the great time of 2 hours and 20 minutes.

As a track coach myself, I was shocked by the ease with which runner could “cut” the course and get away with it. To our knowledge, absolutely nothing was ever done about this. The course remains the same. Any runner can easily take the same shortcut.

CARLOS M. JIMENEZ

Track and Field Coach

Garfield High School

Los Angeles

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Every weekend several thousand runners take part in organized road races around the Southland. Unfortunately, The Times does not see fit to cover this thriving local running scene, except when the news is tragic or controversial.

The most recent example concerns the charges of misconduct leveled at a runner who has supposedly cheated at the Los Angeles Marathon and other races. The day before this lengthy, front-page Metro story appeared, there were at least seven running events in the Los Angeles area, including one, the Revlon Run for Women 5K at the Fox Studios in Century City, which attracted more than 14,000 people.

DAVID J. FISHER

Glendale