In the Running

Hoping to whip up interest in the Los Angeles Marathon among foreign runners, local tourism officials are planning to invite four sports journalists from Australia and Japan to run in this year’s 26-mile race on March 14.

The Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau hopes favorable press in Japan’s Runners Inc. magazine and Australia’s Fun Runner magazine will prompt more runners from both countries to test their endurance at the Los Angeles event, even as early as next year.

Patti MacJennett, vice president of tourism marketing, said she is already working with tour operators in both countries to put together travel packages that include air fare, accommodations and race registration. The tourism bureau hopes to lure as many as 1,000 runners from Japan alone over the next five years.

The bureau chose to focus exclusively on the two Pacific Rim countries, MacJennett said, because of the large number of runners each sends yearly to the Hawaii and New York marathons.

The Hawaii Marathon, for example, draws at least 5,000 Japanese runners each year, MacJennett estimated.

“We know there are strong running communities [in Australia and Japan] predisposed to travel,” she said.

The bureau plans to ante up no more than $3,000 for this year’s promotion, spokeswoman Stephanie Bradfield said.