Fast Times in L.A.? Not in This Race, Buster

I continue to be puzzled by the pressure brought on Bill Burke to make the L.A. Marathon course faster, meaning easier.

When the world’s best golfers assemble once a year for the U.S. Open to determine the best of the best, they don’t go to some pitch-and-putt, they go to Oakmont, or Southern Hills or Pebble Beach, where they don’t shoot 20 under par, but only hope to break par at all.

If the world’s best marathoners want to run fast times, let them go to Rotterdam or Boston or somewhere else. If they want to find out who’s the toughest of the tough, let them come to L.A.

TOM LANE, Santa Monica