Waiting for a Chance to Run

One-and-a-half million paper cups.

Fifty-five thousand gallons of water.

And 300 tubes of petroleum jelly.

Those supplies constitute a small sampling of what more than 23,000 runners, representing 80 countries and all 50 U.S. states are expected to go through Sunday for Los Angeles Marathon XVI.

That’s not to mention the 40,000 medals, 6,700 yards of tape or 22,500 feet of rope that officials and volunteers will be dealing with when the four-race event gets underway at 6 a.m. with the bike tour at USC. The wheelchair division will start at 8:20 a.m. at 5th and Figueroa and the 26.2-mile marathon begins 25 minutes later at the same location. The marathon finish line is at Flower Street, south of 5th in front of Arco Plaza. A 5K run-walk begins at 9:45 at Staples Center.

While race officials have kicked around the idea of altering the marathon’s course--they even have solicited ideas on the event’s Web site--the course will remain the same this weekend as it has been since 1997. Along the way, competitors will pass through downtown, USC, the Crenshaw District, Koreatown, the Wilshire District, Hollywood and the Civic Center.

Competitors will be at a course-low 137 feet above sea level at Mile 6, 198 feet above sea level at the midway point and a course-high 401 feet above sea level at Mile 20. The rolling hills that permeate the second half of the marathon course are a concern to race organizers, lending credence to speculation that the course will be changed again next year in an effort to speed up finishing times.

Simon Bor of Kenya set the men’s L.A. course record in 1999 with a 2-hour 9-minute 25-second finish. Madina Biktagirova of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the early successor to the old Soviet Union, set the women’s standard of 2:26:23 in 1992.

This year, the men’s and women’s first-place finishers will win $35,000 and a 2001 Honda Accord. Second-place finishers will earn $20,000. Third-place finishers get $10,000, fourth-place $5,000, fifth-place $3,000, and sixth-place $2,000.

There are bonuses for strong finishing times, ranging from $100,000 for finishing under 2:07, to $25,000 for finishing under 2:09 for the men, and $25,000 for finishing under 2:26 to $10,000 for finishing under 2:30 for the women. The bonuses are not cumulative, however.

A $250,000 bonus will be paid over a five-year period for anyone setting a world record, breaking either of the 1999 marks set by Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi, 2:05:42, and Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe, 2:20:43.

Among this year’s elite L.A. competitors are Benson Mutisya Mbithi of Kenya, who came out of nowhere last year to win the men’s division in his marathon debut with a time of 2:11:55.

On the women’s side, Joanna Zeiger, 30, who placed fourth for the U.S. in the triathlon at the Sydney Olympics this summer and was the USOC and USAT female triathlete of the year, will be making her L.A. Marathon debut.

Saul Mendoza, 32, of Mexico, will try to win in the men’s wheelchair division for the fifth consecutive year. He won last year’s race in 1:42:33.

Marathon Facts

* What: Los Angeles Marathon XVI

* When: Sunday.

* Races: Bike tour (begins 6 a.m. at USC); wheelchair race (begins 8:20 a.m. at 5th and Figueroa); marathon (begins 8:45 a.m. at 5th and Figueroa); 5K (begins 9:45 a.m. at Staples Center).

* Entrants: More than 23,000.

* Defending champion: Men, Benson Mutisya Mbithi of Kenya. Women, Jane Salumae, Estonia.

* Late race registration: Quality of Life Expo, Thursday-Saturday, L.A. Convention Center.

* On the net: https://www.lamarathon.com