LA Marathon - Less show more substance

The LA Marathon has been officially moved back to a Sunday in March for 2010 - March 21st - which may just fall on the spring equinox (aka the first day of Spring - which may also be Norooz depending). I was happy with the memorial day Marathon this year, although many other runners supposedly were not. The date change threw off training schedules and many expected an unbearable run in the heat. On the contrary, the weather was beautifully overcast and it fell smack on on a milestone birthday for me - which made it the perfect inaugural marathon for your truly.

Apart from the date change, LA organizers also changed the course to the (Dodger) Stadium to Sea (Santa Monica) proposal which recently won approval from the Santa Monica City Council. According to the LA Marathon website, the course will now go through iconic parts of LA including Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Personally, I loved this year's course and enjoyed going through downtown and other parts of the city that I wouldn't visit. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica? C'mon - I'm there all the time I don't need to run a marathon through there. The experience of running through the neighborhoods in south Los Angeles was unique and touching - especially the crowds of fans - big and small - who greeted us. They haven't posted the official course online yet, but I'm hoping that it'll go through Silver Lake, Echo Park, and spend more time in parts of LA that may not be the "iconic" spots the Marathon wants to re-affiliate with. Chinatown wouldn't be bad either.

I also liked this year's Marathon course because of the loop of the race - We started in downtown and ended in downtown. The logistics of starting at Dodger Stadium and ending in Santa Monica is something of a nightmare. Are runners expected to park to the start and hitchhike back with sore legs, sore bodies and potential digestive problems that plague long distance runners (believe me, it's not pretty)? When the course went from Universal Studios to downtown in years prior, theorganizers could at least tout the metro system as a convenient way to get around This is SO not the case with Santa Monica. I hope that the organizers keep these kinds of problems in mind when they decide to manage the course in the process of confirming the LA Marathon as a legimitate 26.2 mile race that keeps runners in mind first rather than showy external appearances. The good thing about the loop course was that spectators could travel along the metro system to a degree and watch the runners. I feel like this stadium to see course should have received some sort of community feedback before its confirmation for next year's marathon.

I would also recommend extending this philosophy to the expo event the weekend before race day. This year's LA Marathon expo was underwheling and a sad representation of what a true marathon convention should be - It was a poor showing in comparison to Pasadena's Expo. In Pasadena, the organizers culled from local community running clubs and organization, wheras the LA Marathon expo was all about the sponsors and some internet-based resellers. The impression was that it was very costly to get a booth at LA, whereas Pasadena was very much community-focused.

In truth, I loved the Pasadena Marathon, eventhough I did the 5K and found the parking situation a bit confusing - But the vibe of that event (DESPITE the fact that the rain was merciless) was all about the love and fun of running. I may just decide to run Pasadena this next year, but we'll see.

Pasadena Redux (As in Attempt # deux)

So I’ve been meaning to write about my experience at Pasadena Marathon Redux, the inaugural but second attempt at a marathon in the beautiful city of Pasadena, CA. The first attempt in November was cancelled due to poor air quality resulting from the fall fire storms. I had only planned on joining as a spectator back then but when the run was rescheduled to March 15, I decided to join in myself for the 5K.

Based on the two weeks leading up to the 15th, race day should have been beautiful – Clear, sunny, not too warm. And even when the forecast predicted rain the day before, I’m sure everyone involved hoped it would just be a drizzle and nothing more. But the day started out dark, gloomy and rainy, and the rain stopped only briefly (during my race thankfully). The marathoners and half-marathoners had to run in thundering spouts of rain which eventually cleared up as the day progressed. They were prepared in rain gear and the can-do attitude runners have.

There were sponsors and exhibitors and even a stage featuring musical performances - But I didn't stick around much longer after I saw the winner of the half-marathon. In fact, I was standing next to him after his win as we huddled with a bunch of others under one of the canopied-shelters as a momentary reprieve from being soaked.

This first attempt at a Pasadena race has had a lot of obstacles. This includes lack of organization in the wee hours of the early morning where a throng of driving runners (myself included) had no idea where to park and were given no guidance by the traffic coordinators.


The last race I had done was the Frontrunner's Pride 5K in June, so it had been a while since I participated in any kind of competitive run. So despite the problems (which also included a house catching on fire nearby!), it was just nice to be out. I find runners to be very positive people - on race day at least - and I definitely got some good energy from them. Even though I didn't make my goal time, I proudly hang my medal from my car rear view mirror. Hopefully, I'll have one from the LA Marathon hanging next to it soon.

I did the Bruin 5K a couple of weeks ago and have the Victory for Victims 8K in Lake Balboa this Sunday. Maybe one day a marathon in the Valley? Hmmm....if Pasadena can do it, I'm sure the San Fernando Valley can too!