Radio Personality Followed Marathon Route in Southland Style

Sunday marks the 20th running of the L.A. Marathon and yet no one has been able to better the course time registered by Al Lohman, the late radio personality, 17 years ago.

Lohman sped the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds. True, he sped it in a car, a few days after the real race. But what a gallant performer he was, braving all that surface-street traffic.

And, Lohman said his time would have been even faster, “but I had to stop at a liquor store to buy some cigarettes.”

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Words imperfect: Deanna Tunstall observed a notice that could be read as a residential sale of old mobile phones (see photo).

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Did the sender flunk biology? Darcia Negrin of Santa Clarita dispatched a unique honor paid her husband in a piece of junk mail from an educational publication (see accompanying).

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Let’s hope the doctor’s not so careless: Dale Halperin of North Hollywood writes that she and husband Harry have made a note to be sure to confirm his appointment by November 2009 (see accompanying).

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Can her clients heel? “I wanted people to look at it twice and remember it,” said Mae Waugh, 17, of Ojai, explaining the unusual wording in her dog-sitting offer (see accompanying). She said she’s heard from several potential customers, including one person “who asked if I sat on cats.” Not clear whether the latter was a cat owner or a cat-hater.

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School daze: Some offbeat items from the crime log of the Student Life, Pomona College’s newspaper:

* A man climbing on the roof of the Smith Campus Center was discovered to be “retrieving his radio-controlled airplane.” The newspaper’s headline: “Nerds can get in trouble, too.”

* A man holding the sign, “Judgment Day is Coming,” was removed from campus. Commented the newspaper: “Special Day Comes Sooner Than Expected.”

* Then there was the student who reported a man stealing items from his car. He told officers he wouldn’t press charges if he got his belongings back. One of those belongings, officers noted, was a gun.

The gun’s owner was arrested.

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miscelLAny: “Time was, you used to see merchants observing Christmas in various forms after Halloween,” David Arthur wrote. “Now, apparently, it’s been upped to just after Presidents Day.

“While dining at the Original Thai BBQ Restaurant at 3rd and Ardmore, my wife and I heard the songs ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ playing as background music.”

Maybe that explains why my neighbor has his Christmas lights up nine months early.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATimes, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.