Racers Prep With Pep Talk and Carbs
Fueled with carbs and the Kenyan dish ugali from Saturday’s pre-race dinner -- and inspired by a pep talk from 1984 Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson -- participants in today’s Los Angeles Marathon and bike tour prepared to enjoy the rare treat of traffic-free streets while they run, walk, cycle and roll along the 26-mile, 385-yard course.
Today’s event will be the 20th running of the marathon, which began as a tribute to the community spirit born during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. More than 45,000 people, including about 25,000 runners, are expected to participate. Among them are 289 “legacy runners” who have competed every year.
Samuelson, winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon, spoke at Saturday’s dinner and was scheduled to be at the start and finish lines today.
The bike tour is scheduled to leave from the Coliseum at 6 a.m. From the start line at 6th and Figueroa streets, wheelchair athletes will start at 7:50, elite female marathoners at 7:57, hand-crank wheelchair athletes at 8:05 and elite men and the rest of the marathon pack at 8:12:50. The 5K run/walk will begin at 9:30 in front of Staples Center, at 11th and Figueroa streets.
The top male and female finisher will each win $25,000, and the first person to cross the finish line will get a $75,000 bonus. The elite women will get a head start of 15 minutes 50 seconds over the elite men and the rest of the pack.
Ukraine native Tatyana Pozdnyakova, who lives in Gainesville, Fla., will try to become the first three-time winner, two days past her 50th birthday. The top male contenders are three Kenyans: Simon Bor, who set the course record of 2:09:25 in his 1999 L.A. victory; Benson Mbithi, the 2000 winner, and Laban Kipkemboi, who made his marathon debut in New York in 2002 with a third-place finish in 2:08:39.
