L.A. Marathon

Re Ginger Floerchinger-Franks’ Sept. 28 letter on the L.A. Marathon: Your Sept. 21 article included the benefits to the race and the community by changing the course, but did not cover any of the benefits to our runners. Last year, we received considerable input from runners regarding traffic and parking problems. In an effort to improve the situation, we made changes that will benefit all the runners and create a smoother operation as they travel to and from the start and finish of the course.

Due to the growth of the Los Angeles Marathon, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum no longer can provide the runners with a smooth and economical means to get to the marathon and park their cars.

In an effort to increase the availability of parking, we have split the marathon and bike tour participants so that the runners will park Downtown and the cyclists will park in Hollywood, meaning that there will be 40% less cars parking at the start of the race. Additionally, to eliminate the parking-price gouging that occurred last year, we have worked with lot owners to keep costs down and ultimately parking will cost less than the past few years. Finally, by moving the start and finish to Downtown, runners will have more off-ramps to choose from in the early morning hours.

WILLIAM A. BURKE, President

Los Angeles Marathon