20,000 Marathoners Brave Rain and Pain

The rain came Sunday in torrents unseen in the city this year, but it did not extinguish the spirits of the more than 20,000 runners in the 15th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

They wore enough plastic trash bags to supply a small city, and waded through flooding streets just to get to the start line.

Benson Mbithi, 22, of Kenya captured the men’s race, and Jane Salumae, an Estonian who trains in San Diego, was the first woman finisher.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this,” one woman laughed as she tried to ford a stream gushing by a curb near 6th and Figueroa streets downtown, where the race began. But she did not turn back.

Chris Nielsen, 51, of Bakersfield was practically covered in plastic rain gear, determined to run in his seventh marathon, his third in Los Angeles, as he headed through the storm to take his place in the pack.

Some ran for police and military units, others for political causes, such as stopping development of an airport on the former El Toro Marine base.

One group hoping to improve the image of day laborers ran through the very neighborhoods where they often stand on corners seeking work.

Other runners pushed babies in strollers, though not as many as on a sunny day, and a bunch of bright yellow bananas carried the message of their juice store chain near the front of the pack.

The marathon reached its limit of 23,000 entrants for the first time this year, but it wasn’t clear how many participated or dropped out because of the weather. It was clear, however, that with walkers, cyclists and wheelchair racers, more than 30,000 took part.

After the starting gun fired, the drenched field headed south on Figueroa Street, taking 16 minutes to pass the starting line, seven minutes longer than usual.

Hundreds shed their trash bags and any plastic they had used in futile efforts to stay dry as the race began, leaving a trail of debris in their wake.

Cold Gusts and Sheets of Rain

The race brought together 366 veterans of all 14 previous L.A. Marathons. Two of them, John Chin of Arcadia and Larry Pollo of Sierra Madre, agreed that Sunday’s storm was the worst rain they had ever run in.

“You wouldn’t even go for a training run in rain like that,” said Pollo, 43. “We’re just glad we finished.”

“It came down in sheets, and because of the cold, you stiffen up,” said Chin, 42.

Mbithi’s winning time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds through the stinging rain and gusting head winds was nearly five minutes faster than the second-place finisher, fellow Kenyan Mark Yatich.

Mbithi pulled away 18 miles into the race “because I saw the pace was very slow,” he said. “The course is very good, but the weather was very bad.”

Kenyan Simon Bor, who set a Los Angeles record when he won last year in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 25 seconds, finished fourth Sunday, nearly 9 minutes after Mbithi.

Salumae slogged her way to the women’s title in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 34 seconds, more than a minute and a half ahead of second-place Nuta Olaru of Romania.

“That’s a really tough race,” Salumae said afterward. “I just keep running, and I didn’t care about time. I didn’t care about nothing. I just care about finishing the race.”

Mbithi and Salumae picked up $35,000 each and new Honda Accords.

Saul Mendoza of Snellville, Ga., captured his fourth consecutive L.A. Marathon wheelchair race in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 33 seconds. Jean Driscoll, of Champaign, Ill., was the first woman wheelchair finisher.

A soggy Mendoza, who hit the tape with his right fist raised, said the marathon “was a very fun race. I just took off and tried to do my own race.”

That kind of focus was necessary to survive the storm--let alone the race.

Spectators who braved the wet, chilly weather said their turnout was a near record low.

“It’s usually packed,” said Mil Nicholson, who brought her dog Roxy to cheer on runners as they turned onto Hollywood Boulevard from Orange Drive. “We usually have to get here very early, but this year that wasn’t necessary.

“Sometimes you cannot get anywhere near the front. There are people climbing on people’s shoulders. It’s a shame. But who can control the weather?”

Wheelchair racer Peter Lassen, 60, who has completed 24 marathons, said the rain slowed him by at least an hour off his best time.

“My gloves were slipping on the wheels,” said Lassen, who was paralyzed by a wound suffered in the Vietnam War. He said he began racing in 1989 after he and another paralyzed Vietnam veteran spent a drunken evening at a Hollywood bar betting which one would enter the marathon.

A Victory Toast, a Subway Surrender

“And we both did it,” he said.

He said he rarely visits the bar in Hollywood where he and his friend launched their marathon careers. But Sunday, he was given a souvenir of those days. A beer was nestled in the helmet sitting between his feet.

“Someone gave it to me as I was coming down Hollywood Boulevard,” he said. “And I’m going to drink it too.”

James Andion, a veteran finisher of more than 10 marathons, was prepared for the race’s hills, crowds and exhaustion. But the rain, he said, “got to me.”

Twelve miles into the race he stopped and grabbed the Red Line subway back to his car.

“It was hard to drop out, but it just wasn’t worth it to get injured,” he said. “I was running through 6-inch puddles.”

As much as it tested runners Sunday, the rain also took its toll on the entertainment stages set up along the race route.

In Hollywood, Cosmic Jukebox, a six-piece band, helped runners past the 19-mile mark, playing classic rock tunes in front of the Pantages Theater.

But sound technician Michael Maher spent much of the morning presiding over an empty stage at the corner of Hollywood and Schrader boulevards. He said the band scheduled to perform backed out because of the rain.

“They came out and took a look and . . . decided [that] with $20,000 worth of equipment, they didn’t want to risk it getting wet and ruined,” Maher said.

Most Musical Acts Were Washed Out

Only two of nine scheduled sound stages were used, he said. A few blocks away, promoters for a radio station never unloaded speakers from their van.

By noon, no bands had performed at Mann’s Chinese Theater, where some of the race’s largest crowds of spectators usually assemble.

The music “always creates excitement, and energizes you to try a little bit harder,” said Ed Fonda of Upland, who finished the race in under four hours. “So you miss it a little bit.”

At Mile 19 on Hollywood Boulevard, Sprint Corp. gave marathoners a chance to make free long-distance cell phone calls.

“This is what they call the wall,” said Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Walsh. “This is where you really need support.”

The telephone company used volunteers from the track team at West High in Torrance to run alongside marathoners and assist them with their calls.

Sunday’s race was the fifth Los Angeles Marathon together for the group of 13 day laborers. They had planned to reenact an Aztec ritual by burning special incense near the starting line before the race, but the rain ruled that out.

Still, their running raised about $1,000 for an immigrants rights group’s day labor project.

“The great thing is we run by a lot of the corners where they look for work,” said Victor Narro, of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “Day laborers are not just lazy people sitting out on the corner. They formed this group to show the community they’re hard-working immigrants.”

Los Angeles attracts runners from around the world--more Guatemalans, for example, than compete in that country’s race.

When Oquiden del Aguila, who came from Guatemala City, finished, he said: “My medal is so beautiful.”

The runners endured rain, cold and waterlogged clothes that added extra weight. But when the sun finally broke through shortly after noon, it was an inspiring beacon for some runners.

“It came on my 23rd mile,” said Eddie Hansen of Long Beach. “When I saw the sunlight, I thought, ‘The finish line can’t be that far.”’