L.A. RAISES THE SPEED LIMIT : FASTER COURSE EXPECTED TO ADD TO HOLLYWOOD-STYLE FESTIVITIES.Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writer The field of elite runners might continue to lag behind other major races, but the party that is the 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 continues to be one of the best. On Sunday, an estimated million Angelenos are expected to line the once-again revised 26.2-mile route that winds through the streets of downtown L.A. and beyond for the 12th running of the race and the city's biggest party of the year. In addition to the now-traditional street entertainment, both planned and spontaneous, and masses of onlookers, the marathon agenda is full. The bike tour. The wheelchair race. The 5-kilometer run. The in-line skating 10K, which is the latest addition to the menu. The 19,000 average Joes who will run or walk the race. It's like a five-ring circus with something for everybody. And, oh yeah, for those interested, there's a competitive marathon, complete with world-class runners. ``The face of the City of Los Angeles
Burke was born in Urney, County Tyrone. , founder of the race. ``Other marathons are unique to their cities. Boston is very Bostonian. In New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , you see foreign athletes from all over. ``Here, it's about 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. . It's Hollywood. It's entertainment.'' Once again, race organizers are optimistic the elite runners will break the record of 2 hours, 10.19 by Martin Mondragon in 1988. And they have a few factors in their favor. The revised course should be the fastest in the history of the race. The final five miles, including a two-mile stretch down Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. to the finish line, are flat instead of hilly, as they've been in past. Burke said a New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race run over a 42,195 m (26.2 mile) course through all five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon race in the world, and with 37,866 finishers in 2006, was also the largest marathon race ever run. official commented that she believes the L.A. Marathon might now be the fastest course in the country. The weather also could be conducive to a fast time. The National Weather Service says temperatures are expected to in the high 50s at race time with a slight chance of rain - excellent running conditions. The problem is the elite field doesn't look strong. The prize money is low compared with Boston's $75,000 to win, Chicago's $50,000 and New York's $30,000. Even Houston offers $25,000. Winners at this year's LA Marathon take home $15,000 and a car, with men's bonuses of $25,000 to $50,000 for beating course records. Women's bonuses start at $5,000. Elite runners usually can negotiate $15,000 to $30,000 just for competing in an event. A late entry was Mexico's Salvador Garcia, who won the 1991 New York City Marathon. Other victories for Garcia, who represented Mexico in the 1992 Olympics, include the 1988 Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi Marathon and the 1990 and 1991 Long Beach Marathon. Before Garcia entered, the biggest name was Wodajo Bulti Wodajo Bulti (born 11 March 1957) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialized in the 5000 metres, 10000 metres and cross-country running. Achievements Year Tournament Venue Result Extra of Ethiopia, who has run 2:08.44. However, Bulti ran that time nine years ago and is now 38. Beyond Bulti are relatively anonymous runners. Among the men, Ignasio Alberta Cuba of Cuba (2:10.40), and El-Maati Chaham (2:11.55) and Driss Dacha da·cha n. A Russian country house or villa. [Russian, gift, land, country house; see d  - in Indo-European roots. (2:11.41) of Morocco are capable but hardly inspiring.
Turbo Tumo Turbo Tumo (born February 23, 1970) is a long-distance runner from Ethiopia, who won the Eindhoven Marathon on October 13, 1996, clocking a total time of 2:11:26. He represented his native country in the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, alongside Abebe Mekonnen and (2:10.09) of Ethiopia pulled out this week and three Kenyan runners will not be here because of visa problems. Among women, only two runners - Tatyana Dzabrailova (2:27.05) and Irina Bogacheva (2:28.57) have broken 2:30. The race record for women is 2:26.23 by Madina Biktagirova in 1992. Also, no Americans are among the top runners. Carlos Pilo Godoy, who recruited the elite runners, admits the names aren't big but insists the potential is. ``These are runners who want to be born as stars here,'' he said. ``These aren't runners who set world records or won gold medals five years ago. They are runners who are making a move now. ``. . . I think there are six to eight guys who could break 2:10. That's my goal.'' However, two of the elite runners don't seem to be cooperating. Cuba, the Cuban, said he's in 2:10-to-2:12 condition while Chaham, one of the Moroccons, hopes to run 2:10 to 2:11. ``It depends on the weather, Chaham said. Burke said the prize-money structure could change next year. He said this marathon marks the end of a five-year plan. For next year, he and his colleagues will devise a three-year strategy, which he said would focus in good part on the elite runners. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , he'll simply hope for that sub-2:10 and enjoy the fun. CAPTION(S): Box, Map Box: The City of Los Angeles Marathon Map: (color) THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES MARATHON XII |
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