A Sunny but Not Very Speedy L.A. Marathon

The weather was perfect, the times were not--at least, not in the minds of the organizers of the 13th annual Los Angeles Marathon, who had hoped that a pack of elite runners in Sunday’s race would shatter records and catapult the event into the top tier of the world’s marathons.

The pack ran fast, well ahead of more than 19,000 others celebrating a journey through the city’s neighborhoods as well as the glorious views of snow-topped mountains on a cool, crisp spring morning.

The pack did not, however, run quite fast enough.

Tanzanian Zebedayo Bayo, 21, broke the tape at 2 hours 11 minutes 21 seconds, moments after bursting ahead of Jonathan Ndambuki, 21, of Kenya, who stumbled after straining his right leg. Bayo recorded the third-fastest winning time in Los Angeles Marathon history--but organizers had hoped the winner would break 2:10, the benchmark of a fast marathon.

For the second year in a row, Lornah Kiplagat of Kenya won the women’s contest. She finished in 2:34:03.

There was a record set, meanwhile--in the wheelchair division. Saul Mendoza of Mexico flashed across the finish line in 1:30:01.

Organizers, who had hired the New York Marathon’s recruiter to gather an elite squad for this year’s contest in hopes of a sub-2:10 finish, immediately began to consider redrawing the course in hopes of avoiding hills.

“Quite frankly, I think it was a great race today,” said Bill Burke, the marathon’s president. “If you brought back the same field today and gave them a different route, you would have a 2:08 or a 2:07.”

He added that it was “up to the organizers” to improve the times.

For many of the 19,275 participants, however, it was the crystal-clear skies and cool clime that seized their attention, especially after biting wind gusts on Saturday. As they puffed and strained around the 26.2-mile course, looping through Mid-City and Hollywood, runners were treated to postcard-picture views of the Hollywood sign and the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains.

“When there’s something else to look at, it gives you that extra push,” said Tom Caesar, 38, of Carlsbad, running his first marathon.

“The City of Angels was looking over us because it was perfect today,” one runner said before fading into the crowd.

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At start time, it was a chilly 51 degrees, and some runners donned plastic bags to insulate themselves while waiting to set off. Others simply shivered.

“It’s too cold here. I left Nicaragua on Friday and it was warm there,” William Aguirre, 35, said as he warmed up by jogging around.

The race began solemnly. First came a moment of silence in memory of three members of the Los Angeles Fire Department and an 11-year-old girl killed in a helicopter crash last week. After that, the thousands of runners raised their arms to salute them--as well as another city firefighter who had died a few weeks before.

Then a crowd of marathoners of all ages, nationalities and dress rumbled out of downtown Los Angeles as Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” blared over loudspeakers. Among the shorts and T-shirts could be seen a runner wearing a rhino costume, another garbed as Superman--and several, of course, dressed as Elvis Presley.

At the front of the pack, the race turned out to be one of the most hotly contested marathons in the event’s history. Bayo and Ndambuki separated themselves from a lead pack of eight runners in the 22nd mile, and Ndambuki narrowly led until pulling his right calf in the final mile. It was only Bayo’s third marathon.

Similarly, Kiplagat broke ahead of a pack of six women runners toward the end of the race. She said the victory was exceptionally sweet because she actually finished second last year, only to be declared the winner when the apparent champion, Nadezhda Ilyina, was disqualified for cutting the course.

Kiplagat and Bayo each won $30,000 and a new Honda Accord worth $24,150.

Wheelchair champ Mendoza, who also won last year’s contest, finished 50.2 seconds faster than his countryman and training partner Aaron Gordian, and 2 minutes, 14 seconds faster than Jim Mattern’s old record, set in 1993.

The women’s wheelchair winner was Kazu Hatanaka of Japan, who came in at 1:56:58. Each wheelchair winner took home $2,000. About 100 wheelchair racers competed Sunday, most of them men.

Behind the elite racers came thousands of personal moments of struggle and triumph.

Ollic Canton of West Covina, who is blind, ran the route with a guide at his side.

“I just wanted to do something I’ve never done before,” Canton said.

Hue Mullick, 56, of Loma Linda, had once been a power-lifter--with a personal-best lift of 245 pounds. Last August, after her husband began ribbing her about her weight, the 5-foot-tall paralegal decided to run the marathon.

“I just wanted to see what it’s like,” Mullick said.

Spectators lined sidewalks throughout the city. The runners passed Mariachi bands and Korean sword dancers; they were serenaded by tapes of ‘70s-era rock ‘n’ roll.

“A marathon is such a great urban experience,” said Nyla Arslanian, president of the Hollywood Arts Council, which assembled a band outside Mann’s Chinese Theatre to serenade the sweaty runners with Garth Brooks tunes. “People can see the different neighborhoods and communities of the city up close. The city seems more whole when you run through it.”

A party atmosphere permeated the course. Runners frequently paused to slap hands with spectators soaking up the sun.

“It is a great big picnic,” said Naomi Wright, sitting on a small chair on Wilshire Boulevard and watching a river of bobbing heads streaming down the street. “It is more than just a race. Other cities have races, but we have a good time.”

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The sunny weather seemed to entice more people to watch the race. “It’s a real boost” when the crowds cheer, said runner Rod Menzel, 29, of Moorpark.

Many runners said they needed all the help they could get. “When I got to mile 16, I thought, ‘I’m too old for this,’ ” said Anna Hollenberg, a 68-year-old grandmother from Redlands who was running her seventh marathon. She finished in a little over 4:30.

Angel Benitez of Sylmar tried to fight off exhaustion by engaging in an ongoing water fight with his classmates, who were taking part in the marathon as part of Students Run L.A., a 1,200-member group of runners.

“I’m proud of myself and the time I did it in,” Angel said after finishing in 4:01. “I want to do it again and make my mom proud.”

Four hours after the starting gun fired, Flower Street was choked with sweaty, aching bodies, and the line for the massage tables was a long one.

“Running a marathon is like giving birth,” said Keri Netzel, 41, of Fontana. “It hurts so much. The next day you say, ‘This is the last one I’m doing.’ But then you forget, and by next year you’ve done it twice.”

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Times staff writers Brett Johnson, Eric Rimbert, Daniel Yi and Jim Hodges contributed to this story.

* BIG WINNERS

African runners reign as Zebedayo Bayo and Lornah Kiplagat win Los Angeles Marathon. R1