RUNNERS' CHALLENGE: KEEPING IT STRAIGHT NEW ROUTE MEANS PAYING ATTENTION.Byline: RICH HAMMOND Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer Los Angeles' marathoners no longer will be running in circles. In its 22nd year, 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 has undergone its most dramatic change in an effort to boost the race's international profile and feature some of the more historic parts of the city. The race, which begins Sunday at 8:15 a.m., will be run in more of a straight line, beginning near Universal Studios and the finishing at its downtown location near the Central Library. That's a major change from previous years, when the course consisted of a loop around downtown and Hollywood. Runners will pass the Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheatre at 2301 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, California, USA, that is used primarily for music performances. The "bowl" in this context is the natural cavity in the earth into which the amphitheater is built, rather than the shape of the , the Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a pavement along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but fictional characters honored by , Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. and some of the city's oldest and most historic neighborhoods, and race organizers hope the pace will be faster than ever. With the new course comes a major elevation change. The first half of the race will be almost entirely downhill, which should lead to dramatically lower times. That's good news for race officials, who know that the potential for lower times attracts better athletes, which raises the profile of the event. Dr. William Burke William Burke (1792 - January 28, 1829) was an Irish-Scots serial killer who, along with William Hare committed a notorious series of murders in Edinburgh in the 19th century. Burke was born in Urney, County Tyrone. , the race's founder and president, has long sought to elevate Los Angeles' marathon to the level of 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 and Boston and believes lowering first-place times is a step in that direction. "We're on the way," Burke said. "This is something we've been working on for seven years, and our staff has gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. But in the long term it's going to be good for the race and the city. It's going to give us better times and bigger numbers, and that's the big thing." An estimated 26,000 runners will take to the 26.2-mile course, but only a handful have a realistic chance to finish first and claim the prize money, which is the other big factor in attracting top-level runners. To that end, the race has taken a step backward. The first-place prize for men and women has decreased from $35,000 to $20,000 -- plus a new car -- but the race's "challenge" competition remains in place. Because of the "challenge," the elite women will get a 19-minute, 51-second head start over the elite men. The first runner to cross the line will get a $100,000 bonus. Last year, there was a margin of 16:30 between the top man, Benson Cherono, and woman, Lidiya Grigoryeva Lidiya Grigoryeva (born January 25, 1974) is a Russian long-distance runner from the Chuvashia region. She won the Bronze medal over 10 000 metres at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, Sweden in a time of 30:32,72 minutes, a new personal best and the , who claimed the bonus. "It all comes down to money," said Larry Barthlow, the race's elite athlete elite athlete Sports medicine An athlete with potential for competing in the Olympics or as a professional athlete; EAs are at ↑ risk for injuries, given the amount of training, for psychological abuse by coaches and parents, and self abuse. coordinator. "How deep are your pockets? The deeper your pockets, the better your athletes are going to be." Cherono, who finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds, and Grigoryeva (2:25:10) both set course records last year, but neither runner is back to seek a repeat win on the new course. The favorites among the men are, not surprisingly, three Kenyans: Wilson Komen, Moses Kororia and Fred Mogaka. Among them, Mogaka's time of 2:12:03 in Melbourne last year is the best personal record in the field, so none of them seem likely to threaten Paul Tergat's world-record time of 2:04:55. "It's a smaller (elite) field and there a couple good unknown guys," Barthlow said. Among the women, Lydia Kurgat (Kenya), Ramilia Burangolova (Russia), Abebe Tola Tola (tō`lə), in the Bible. 1 Son of Issachar. 2 Judge of Israel. (Ethiopia) and Alena Vinitskaya (Belarus) are the favorites, but the real drama in the race is back in the pack. Because the start and finish lines are now so far apart, race participants will be able to ride, free of charge, MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. trains that serve the area. But don't get too comfortable with new course. As part of his constant tinkering with the course, Burke has already identified changes he will make next year, and some thought has been given to starting the race deeper in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . But first, there's this year's race to run. Burke is confident that the new course will be a success, but still admits to moments of anxiety as the start time draws near. "I have two nightmares," Burke joked. "One is that it's race time, TV is ready to go and there are still hundreds of people streaming out of the subway tunnel. I know that's not going to happen. "The other is that we get lost on the route and everybody ends up at my house." rich.hammond@dailynews.com (818) 713-3611 CAPTION(S): 2 boxes, map Box: (1) L.A. MARATHON (2) Los Angeles Marathon XXII route Map: Los Angeles Marathon XXII route Warren Huskey/Staff Artist |
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