Don’t Run Into Trouble

Many people figure they have the Los Angeles Marathon wired. If they’re one of the 23,000 runners expected for Sunday’s race, they probably already know where to lace up for the start. Thousands of others have learned to take a different route on race day, picking their way around the crowds and street closures.

But a new course, the most significant change of route in the race’s 17-year history, means a significant readjustment for competitors, spectators and those who just want to avoid the hoopla.

The race once only went as far west as Highland Avenue in Hancock Park. The course now stretches all the way to the border of Beverly Hills.

That shift and others mean that more than 20 miles of the 26.2-mile course are brand new to the race. Several streets--including stretches of Venice, Pico, Wilshire and Olympic boulevards--will be closed for the event for the first time.

Although the marathon begins at 8:45 a.m. on Grand Avenue alongside Disney Hall, street closures for the first miles of the course will begin more than two hours earlier.

Streets will reopen on a staggered schedule throughout the day. The last stretch of the course, on Olympic Boulevard downtown, won’t reopen until 4:30 p.m. The finish line will be on Hope Street near 9th Street.

Steering clear of the course might mean a change of plans for some.

“Well, it’s 26.2 miles between downtown and West L.A.,” said Byron Ruano, an engineering associate with the city Department of Transportation. The best way to avoid it? “Just wait until the afternoon to go there,” Ruano said.

The city agency will have signs marking detours, Ruano said. About 70 traffic engineers will be deployed to place signs and barriers to block traffic and guide drivers to alternate routes. More than 450 traffic officers will divert vehicles around the marathon area.

Sixty-nine Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus lines in the downtown, Mid-City and mid-Wilshire areas, among others, will be rerouted between 4:40 a.m. and 5 p.m.

However, all Metro Rail lines will run as scheduled. In fact, the MTA is touting the Metro trains as the best way for spectators to reach the course.

Many of the expected million spectators could take the Metro to Union Station, then the Red Line to Pershing Square, MTA officials say. Pershing Square is three blocks from the starting line.

Other Metro stops within walking distance of viewing points are the Wilshire/Western, Pico and Grand stations. The 7th/Metro Center station will land spectators near the finish line.

Planning to drive to the race? Several downtown parking lots will be open for reduced fees, averaging $5 per car, according to marathon officials, although they also advise that the best way to get there is to use the rail lines.

Organizers say the race is the largest single-day sporting event west of the Mississippi. And one of the biggest parties. Festivities will include 10 entertainment centers, featuring performances by community groups representing the city’s diversity. Entertainment will range from Jewish folk music to Ecuadorean dancing and poetry. More than 85 musical groups will perform along the course.

The “Spirit of Los Angeles” cheerleading competition, featuring seven high school squads, will offer runners an extra dose of encouragement. The squads will be stationed between miles 15 and 25, and judges traversing the course will rate each group to name a winner.

Besides the marathon and entertainment stages, Sunday events will include a bike tour that begins at 6 a.m., a wheelchair race that begins at 8:20 a.m., and a 5K race that begins at 9:45 a.m.