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City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 473 [displaying comments 191 to 201]
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e. H. from Dallas, TX
(3/5/2008)
"Great Volunteers, Great Crowd Support, So-So Race" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Pros: 1) Fantastic volunteers. Extremely well staffed and well stocked water stations every mile. 2) Good crowd support. What some of the neighborhoods may have been lacking was made up for by the vocal and plentiful crowd support. And thank you for the many folks who supplied oranges, ice, water, and fruit to the runners on their very own. 3) Big, well organized expo. 4) Big banners running over the street to note each mile. You could generally see these from .25-.5 miles away, and it was nice to see. Cons: 1) For an estimated 20,000 runners, I counted fewer than 100 port-o-pots at the start, and after waiting 30 minutes for one had to do with out TP. What are they spending our entry fee money on again? 2) Please start the race 1 hour earlier. The sun rose at 6:30, so by the time we started at 8:20 it was already warm. 3) Why so many non-qualified runners allowed into the sub-4 corral? There were Japanese pace groups for 6:30 in our coral, and several over-weight walkers. 4) Terrible course. Many have said it before, but it's boring and doesn't hit any of the highlights of the metro LA area, unless you like barrios. 5) No gels at mile 15 as promoted, and very few available at mile 18, and I finished in the top 10%. Hate to see what was left for the back of the pack. 6) Disappointed with food selection at finish, bananas, apples and not much else. How about some bagels or PowerBars? Overall, a decent event, but not one I'd travel to do again. | |
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P. H. from California
(3/4/2008)
"Seedy course" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I have run this marathon twice before, and the old route was better. This new course is seedy and goes through some of the worse parts of LA. There were hills in the late stages of the race. The expo goody bag, once touted as the best, is now a sad, sorry version of its former self. The volunteers at the finish just stood around instead of giving tired runners their medals. The organizers of this race don't seem to care about the marathoners; the race starts too late (8:25), and the route changes from year to year, getting worse. With the late start, count on hot weather for this race. On the plus side, there is an amazing diversity of runners and most are friendly. | |
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C. J. from Granada Hills, CA
(3/4/2008)
"72 suburbs in search of a world-class marathon" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my 6th LA Marathon, 10th overall. If you've done the LA Marathon in the past then you know of the ever-present organizational issues. Devine, the owner of the race, is always cutting corners and doing things on the cheap. The organizers like to say that it's the people's marathon, not a racer's marathon. I guess that's how they justify the shortcuts, hoping that we won't notice. I parked downtown at 400 S. Hope (entrance is on Grand) and took the Red Line to Universal City with my friends. We got to Universal City at 7:30 and saw another friend who was at the front of his porta-potty line and he said he had been waiting 39 minutes. We made it through the line and we were down to the start by about 8:10. There were always enough porta-potties when the start was downtown but since Devine took over the number has fallen. One person on the RW forum said there were fewer than 100 at the start. At the start we didn't hear anything, not even "I Love LA," to mark the start. I'm tall, so I could see the moving heads of people ahead of me. Up and over the hill on the not-wide-enough-Cahuenga and into Hollywood where the streets are finally wide enough to run on. The first half was just a fast downhill blur and I took it too fast, which affected me at the end and I ended up having to walk after mile 20. It started to get warm and the firefighters put sprayers on hydrants which felt real good. Water stations were always well-stocked and there were plenty of volunteers, who I always made sure to thank. The course from miles 20-25 are awful... an industrial area that skirts skid row, complete with strip clubs. It's certainly one of the worst parts of LA and the crowd support is nonexistent until you get to about mile 25.5. The last 4 blocks to the end, however, are full of fans. They were out of space blankets by the time I finished so people were fishing them out of the trash. Fortunately there were plenty of food goodies and water to go around. They used the new SAI Timing system and, by all accounts, it went off without a hitch. It's a disposable RFID tag that attaches to your shoe so they don't need the army of Champion Chip removers at the finish. I was wary because of problems in other races but it apparently worked OK this time. I've requested starting corrals before, and they need to have them even more because of how narrow Cahuenga gets in mile 2. Trying to pass or be passed on such a narrow street is tough. They also need to ditch the bike tour so the marathon can start at 6:00 instead of 8:25, but that's not going to happen. | |
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J. L. from Sacramento
(3/4/2008)
"Not a good course for PR" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This was my 3rd marathon and first time running in LA. The course was more hilly and warmer than I anticipated. My only complaint is the 8:15 a.m. start time, which didn't seem logical given the temperature. Aid stations were great and the crowd was very enthusiastic. | |
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D. E. from NYC
(3/3/2008)
"Like Randy Newman sings..." (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Wow, it was great to run LA. The diversity from mile to mile is awesome, and the course is great. This is one of the "ones to do" on any list of marathons. Plus, seeing nearly 2,700 students from local schools, Students Run LA, it was awesome to see these kids getting started in the sport early on. The only two things I would recommend: 1. Start earlier than 8:15 a.m., it gets warm very quickly. 2. LA has a mayor, right? Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, please do the winning athletes and the thousands of locals and the visiting tourists a favor: show up to your city's marathon! Put a medal over the head and around the neck of a winner, and a finisher. Other than that, great job, Devine, city agencies, and all of the volunteers - YOU ROCK! | |
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C. A. from Portland, OR
(3/3/2008)
"Very disappointing 2nd 1/2" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: Very easy and uncrowded access to start line. Loved the 1st 19 miles. Very cool SMS and e-mail system where your family and loved ones are paged/e-mailed every time you pass a time check point along the course. Amazing turnaround time on the photos within 12 hours of the marathon's end. Fantastic support from the crowds in downtown LA when we need it most. Kudos to all the volunteers who were so patient, kind and welcoming all along the course. They are fantastic. Cons: With hot weather, a start at 8:25 a.m. is way too late. No pacers or organized corrals for people to get situated at the start. Very plain (without even the year) medal. No FINISHER running shirt; just a cotton shirt with LA Marathon and date. Agony on the last 7 miles with high temps, no shade and inclines. | |
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C. W. from Southern California
(3/3/2008)
"Global Warming, Anyone?" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I ran this marathon in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Each year it got hotter, with brutal conditions in 2007. I took a pass in 2008, and reports from yesterday are that 2008 was warm once again. Overall, it is a positive experience, with great crowds and a "block party" feel to it. But as others have said, the second half is tougher than the first, which is exacerbated by the pretty consistently warm conditions. Run this for the heck of it, but do not run it for a PR - and expect the last miles to be miserable. | |
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S. I. from Kansas
(3/3/2008)
"This Kansas Runner is impressed with LA" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This Kansas runner is impressed with the LA Marathon: * On-course volunteers (official and unofficial) were terrific. There were plenty of smiling faces handing out water, Gatorade, oranges, etc. * Transportation to the start line from downtown was great. The free ride on the red line to the start area was simple and well-organized. * The course itself was just fine. There were great views of neighborhoods of a giant city that one would never get anywhere else. * A great medal. Very classic-looking. I will be back for 2009. | |
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K. G. from san Diego
(3/3/2008)
"Great water stations!" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I forgot to comment on the awesome water stations! There were water station every mile. They were well stocked. Kudos for this! | |
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R. H. from Inglewood, California
(3/3/2008)
"My first marathon, and not my last!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon, and being an L.A. native I felt that the L.A. Marathon should be my first. I don't really have anything to compare it to but here are my pros and cons. Pros: The spectator support was awesome! This is not an elite marathon; this is like a huge L.A. block party where everyone unifies for one day (and if you're from L.A., you know that's not an easy thing to do). I thought the course was pretty good. L.A. is a diverse city with very diverse scenery. There was plenty of water and aid station support. Cons: The uphill trek after mile 20 is a killer! I realize that you get an awesome view of the L.A. skyline, but it's murder on a warm day. The post-race festival needs more space, so it isn't necessary for runners to push through a crowd of people to get around it. The marathon should also start a bit earlier, so the heat isn't beating down on you at mid-day. All in all, I'm very glad that the L.A. Marathon was my first, and regardless of my complaints I'll be back next year. |
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