AND THE FEET GOES ON - FOR 26 MILES CHILL MAKES FOR COOL RUNNING OF L.A. MARATHON.Byline: Joseph Giordono Staff Writer While the official theme of Sunday's 16th annual Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon is an annual marathon held in Los Angeles, California since 1986. It was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. The race starts at about 8:15AM and runs through Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, the Crenshaw district, and was ``A Year to Shine,'' runners said the cool, cloudy weather made for perfect race conditions. ``This is my home, and it's so much fun to get out on the streets. And this is perfect weather for the runners,'' said Chris Morgeson, a 36-year-old from Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. who finished the race in 2 hours 46 minutes - beating his best time by 3 minutes. Morgeson, a professional triathlete tri·ath·lete n. One who competes in a triathlon. , was one of more than 23,000 racers in what was billed as ``L.A.'s 26.2-mile block party.'' An estimated 1 million shivering, cheering, sign-waving spectators lined the marathon course, which began downtown and wound through Koreatown, Hancock Park
Hancock Park is a park in Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California which is the location of the La Brea Tar Pits, the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, and LACMA. and Hollywood before finishing up in front of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Central Library. Stephen Ndungu of Kenya won the race and its $35,000 grand prize with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes. Elena Paramonova of Russia, as the top women's finisher at 2 hours 36 minutes, received the same amount. But for most of the participants, just finishing the marathon was a reward in itself. ``I'm really just going to make sure that I don't end up crossing the finish line on one of those gurneys they have over there,'' said Lola Williams of Hollywood. ``I've spent the past three months training for this, so I better see my friends out on the course somewhere cheering for me.'' Race organizers made sure that runners had plenty of distractions to keep their minds off the pain their bodies felt. Several bandstands and entertainment centers were placed along the route, and a group of drummers pounded away all day to keep the pace going. And while the route was lined with signs, balloons and other encouraging touches, some of the most colorful sights were in the race itself. Among the participants were a half-dozen Elvises, a Trojan soldier, a group of superheroes Superheroes are fictional heroes who possess abilities beyond those of normal human beings. Superheroes may also refer to:
``I have to be honest, we dropped out after 12 miles and took the subway back down here,'' said Jonathon Toker Toker may refer to:
``But I think there are about 10 bananas left who are going to finish. The banana kept us pretty warm, but it also chafed chafe v. chafed, chaf·ing, chafes v.tr. 1. To wear away or irritate by rubbing. 2. To annoy; vex. 3. To warm by rubbing, as with the hands. v.intr. a bit.'' Produce aside, the marathon had some familiar L.A. touches. Several of the runners chatted on cell phones, and groups of friends kept in touch with each other on the course by using two-way radios. ``I'll call you when I hit mile-marker 12,'' one young lady said into her cell phone as she stretched before the race. The end of the race was just the beginning for some of the 12,000 volunteers. Some were there to hand out space blankets to finishers, others to collect the timing devices on every runner's shoes. Others were tasked to pick up the tons of empty water bottles, plastic cups and other debris from the race. ``I guess some people just wanted to shed a layer or two,'' said volunteer Ronnie Jensen as he surveyed the dozens of sweat shirts and warmup pants left behind at the starting line starting line n. Sports The point or line at which a race begins. Noun 1. starting line - a line indicating the location of the start of a race or a game scratch line, scratch, start . CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) L.A. Marathon onlooker Tony Valenzuela, top, and pets cheer on a runner. The race drew more than 23,000 entrants. John Kennedy/Special to the Daily News Jill Connelly/Associated Press (3 -- 5 -- color) Volunteers, at top, supply L.A. Marathon racers with water along Hollywood Boulevard For uses other than the original street, see Hollywood Boulevard (disambiguation). Hollywood Boulevard is a boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, beginning at Sunset Boulevard in the east and running northwest to Vermont Avenue, where it straightens out on Sunday. A wheelchair racer, far left, zooms along with the pack down Sunset Boulevard. Near left, Kelly Wilkes, 12, of Westlake Village cheers on her racing mother. John Kennedy/Special to the Daily News Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion