The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, since 1986. The
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
was inspired by the success of the
1984 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Los Angeles, and has become one of the largest marathons in the country, with more than 25,000 participants, thousands of volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Since 2020, the event has been sponsored by
Asics and is officially titled the Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS.
History
Municipal Games era
In 1970, a race of length was held in Los Angeles.
In 1971, the race was lengthened to the distance of a standard marathon, and known as the "Griffith Park Marathon". It was held at the same time as the Municipal Games.
The 1972 race was known as the "Municipal Games Marathon", while races from 1973 to 1977 were known as the "Los Angeles Marathon", and the 1978 edition was known as the "Los Angeles Police Marathon".
The
Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) has no record of any races in this series after 1978.
Los Angeles Lite era
The inaugural race in 1981, known as the "Jordache Los Angeles Pro-Am Marathon", was run with two sections, a professional section with 100,000 USD in prize money, and an amateur section.
Both the 1982 and 1983 races were known as the "Los Angeles Lite Marathon".
In 1983, runners were misdirected, but the course was changed to ensure that finishers ran at least a marathon.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160424153954if_/http://www.mastershistory.org/NMN/NMN-May-1983s.pdf#page=25 ]
ARRS has no record of any races in this series after 1983.
Current era
The inaugural marathon of the current series was first held in 1986.
In 1997,
Nadezhda Ilyina crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for cutting the course through a service station.
The victory went to Ilyina's friend and first-time marathoner
Lornah Kiplagat
Lornah Kiplagat (born 1 May 1974) is a Dutch professional long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherlan ...
.
The race date for 2009 was moved to
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
, , because the city council wished "to limit the impact on Sunday morning church services". After runner criticism due to the increased probability of warmer weather, the race date was moved back to March for the 2010 race. It rained the entire day.
The 2016 edition was held on to coincide with the
U.S. Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading i ...
for the marathon held in Los Angeles the day before.
The 34th edition of the marathon took place on March 24, 2019.
The 2021 edition of the race was postponed to November 7 due to the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, with all registrants given the option of running the race virtually or transferring their entry to 2022, 2023, or 2024.
Course
The original route in 1986 started at Exposition Park and ended at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
.
The route around the turn of the millennium both started and ended in
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
.
From 2007 to 2008, it started south of Universal City and ended in Downtown Los Angeles.
The iconic "Stadium to Sea" route started at
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...
and ended in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
.
The course was changed in the middle of 2020 to end at
Avenue of the Stars in
Century City
Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...
due to "dramatically increased costs quoted by the city of Santa Monica" to continue hosting the finish there.
Community impact
In 2014, the Los Angeles Marathon charity program continued its tremendous growth as 91 participating charities combined to raise a cumulative total $3.7 million.
Students Run LA
In 1987, six students at
East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...
’
Boyle Heights High School enrolled in a marathon training program offered by teacher Harry Shabazian. On March 4, 1990, two dozen teachers from around the city joined the three co-founders, with students from their respective schools, and together, they all ran in the Los Angeles Marathon V. In 1993, Students Run LA spun off from LAUSD and became an independent 501(c)(3) organization.
SRLA continues to provide its after-school mentoring and training program to all students for free. Today, more than 3,200 middle and high school students, from 185 school and community programs, train alongside 550 volunteer leaders.
Inspired by the success of SRLA, a pilot project was begun with the
Montreal Marathon
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
and
Students on the run (Étudiants dans la course) was created with the first objective to complete the September 2010 Montreal Marathon. There were 19 students to begin with and 12 completed the 2010 event. The program continues with a new group and a new objective, complete the 2011 event.
Legacy Runners
Each year, the marathon honors Legacy Runners, runners who have finished every Los Angeles Marathon since its inception in 1986. Each Legacy Runner receives a special bib with a permanent bib number.
As of 2020, there were 114 Legacy Runners.
Television coverage
From 1986 to 2001
KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both station ...
televised the Los Angeles Marathon, in 2002,
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...
, from 2003 to 2007,
KNBC and from 2008 to present,
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
.
Since 2017, the event has been carried nationally on
WGN America
WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ra ...
except in Los Angeles.
Top finishers
Ages of top finishers in the Masters category are given in parentheses.
Key:
Notes
References
2000–2007 Results (source of ages of masters winners)2007 Results (source of masters winners 2005–2007)2006 Results2005 Results2004 Results2003 Results2000 Results
External links
Los Angeles Marathon* {{YouTube, user=LosAngelesMarathon, Los Angeles Marathon
Recurring sporting events established in 1986
Foot races in California
Sports competitions in Los Angeles
Marathons in California
Marathons in the United States
Annual sporting events in the United States
1986 establishments in California