They’ve Run a Long Way Since 1986 Marathon

It was easier to size up the field in 1986, and running in the new race made sense for Ric Sayre, even if it was held only five weeks after he won the Long Beach Marathon.

“I was in good shape, and except for three or four runners, I didn’t see a real exceptional field,” he said. “It looked like I could place in the top five for a payday.”

His payday was $10,000, plus a car, for winning the first Los Angeles Marathon, a race that anticipated 2,500 runners and found itself with 10,787.

The field will be almost twice as large today for its 13th running, and first prize is $30,000 and a car.

Sizing up the 25 men and 10 women considered elite runners is much more difficult than it was 13 years ago, when Sayre figured New Zealand’s Rod Dixon and American Gary Tuttle were the class of the front pack.

Kenya’s Simon Lopuyet is the top-seeded man today, with a 2:08:19 personal best, but Zebedayo Bayo of Tanzania ran well at the Lisbon Half-Marathon two weeks ago, and Alejandro Cruz of Mexico was third in a similar race over a difficult course in Puerto Rico in February.

In fact, eight of the men in today’s marathon have run faster than the 2:10:19 that is the Los Angeles record.

Lornah Kiplagat of Kenya is the top-seeded woman, after winning in Los Angeles a year ago when Nadezhda Ilyina was disqualified for cutting the course, but every runner in the elite field who has completed a marathon has a faster personal best. Italy’s Maura Viceconte has come from the cold at Turin, bringing along a 2:28:16 best, set in Monte Carlo only last fall.

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L.A. Marathon

* WHEN: 8:20 a.m. (wheelchair), 8:45 a.m. (general) today.

* START/FINISH: Begins at Figueroa and 6th and ends at Flower and 5th.

* TV: Channel 13.