People of L.A. Made the Marathon Special

I want to thank the city of Los Angeles for hosting the 17th L.A. Marathon. It was a fantastic, world-class event that would not have been possible without the hard work and support of numerous individual and organizations, including the race organizers, volunteers, sponsors, local government, the LAPD and the LAFD. Hopefully our contributions to the local economy will help compensate for all of the effort.

A special note of thanks has to go out to all of the people of L.A. To the kids high-fiving us, the folks with hoses, the Latina ladies singing “Allez, Allez” with the accordion, the gospel singers, the reggae musicians who played in front of their shop, the Korean singers, the rappers and other performers, the Metro conductor on the Red Line and all of the people along the course who cheered: You made this event special and kept a lot of us going when we were running on empty.

It’s not always easy for someone from San Francisco to tip the hat to L.A., but on behalf of all of the runners from across the country and the world who came to participate, let me say thank you, Los Angeles! See you next year!

Ed Anderson

El Granada, Calif.

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I participated in the L.A. bike tour this past marathon weekend.

My daughter and I spent the night in L.A., took in an Imax movie, had dinner at a great downtown restaurant and had breakfast at a coffee shop on the marathon route so we could cheer the runners on. Altogether, I spent about $250. I’m just one person of the 23,000 runners and 15,000 riders who spent more than their entry fee in the city.

It seems to me just sour grapes to complain about the city’s spending for such a well-attended and exciting event as the marathon (March 2). Not to mention how many more people are able to participate, between participants, volunteers and coordinators. Long live the L.A. Marathon!

Susie Laio

Long Beach

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The L.A. Marathon has a wonderful charity program. The Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children supports the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and fully funds Camp Rainbow. Marathon pledge runners have collected thousands of dollars over the years--not only completing the challenge of running 26.2 miles but giving children with cancer the opportunity to go to summer camp.

Maxine Moshay

Executive Director

Amie Karen Cancer Fund

for Children, Los Angeles