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, California, since 1989. The marathon 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.
In 1970, a race of length 25 miles (40 km) was held in Los Angeles.[1]
In 1971, the race was lengthened to the distance of a standard marathon – 26 miles 385 yards – and known as the "Griffith Park Marathon".[1] It was held at the same time as the Municipal Games.[1]
The 1972 race was known as the "Municipal Games Marathon", while races from 1973 to 1977 were known as the "Los Angeles Marathon",[a] and the 1978 edition was known as the "Los Angeles Police Marathon".[1][4]
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.[1][5]
Both the 1982 and 1983 races were known as the "Los Angeles Lite Marathon".[1]
In 1983, runners were misdirected, but the course was changed to ensure that finishers ran at least a marathon.[1][6][b]
ARRS has no record of any races in this series after 1983.[1]
Current era
The inaugural marathon of the current series was first held in 1986.[1]
In 1997, Nadezhda Ilyina crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for cutting the course through a service station.[1][7][c] The victory went to Ilyina's friend and first-time marathoner Lornah Kiplagat.[1][7]
The race date for 2009 was moved to Memorial Day, May 25, because the city council wished "to limit the impact on Sunday morning church services".[11] After runner criticism due to the increased probability of warmer weather, the race date was moved back to March for the 2010 race.[11]
The 2016 edition was held on February 14 to coincide with the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon held in Los Angeles the day before.[11]
The 34th edition of the marathon took place on March 24, 2019.[12]
Despite Los Angeles County having issued a state of emergency four days prior due to the coronavirus pandemic and criticism from other public officials including councilman Mike Bonin,[13] mayor Eric Garcetti allowed the 2020 marathon to continue as scheduled on March 8, 2020.[12]
The 2021 edition of the race was postponed to November 7 due to the coronavirus, pandemic, with all registrants given the option of running the race virtually or transferring their entry to 2022, 2023, or 2024.[14][11]
In 2022, the marathon chase was revived, after a 7 year absence after its 10 year stint. The chase involves both women and men elite fields running to reach the finish line first. However, the women are given a head start based on an assessment on both fields and their personal bests. For example, the 2024 edition featured a 17 minute head start favoring the women. Along with a $6,000 prize for the winner of each gender field, the winner of the chase earns a $10,000 bonus.[15]
The course was changed in the middle of 2020 to end at Avenue of the Stars in Century City due to "dramatically increased costs quoted by the city of Santa Monica" to continue hosting the finish there.[11]
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’ 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.[18] SRLA continues to provide its after-school mentoring and training program to all students of grades 7-12 for free. For the 6 months leading to the marathon, SRLA grants free entry and transport to its participants in races of increasing length, a 5K, 10K, 15K, two half marathons, and a 30K. Students in the program receive free training shirts, running shoes, marathon uniforms, along with race expenses. Today, more than 3,200 middle and high school students, from 185 school and community programs, train alongside 550 volunteer leaders, and 99% of students complete the LA Marathon.[18][19][20]
Inspired by the success of SRLA, a pilot project was begun with the Montreal Marathon 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.[21]
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.
In the 2024 edition, 95 Legacy Runners completed their 1000th mile of the LA Marathon, which was situated at mile 4 of the race.[22]
Television coverage
From 1986 to 2001 KCOP-TV televised the Los Angeles Marathon, in 2002, KCAL-TV, from 2003 to 2007, KNBC and from 2008 to present, KTLA.
Since 2017, the event has been carried nationally on WGN America except in Los Angeles.
^The race was also known as the "City of Los Angeles Marathon" in 1973 and 1974.[2][3]
^National Masters News reported that "a well-intending police car, leading headstarting wheelchair participants, got out of runners' sight after the first quarter-mile, uphill, hence, the missed turn", and noted that the race director's "nimble adjustments of markers and barriers prevented further calamity", resulting in finishers running at least 26 mi 411 yd (42.219 km), and the leaders running around 26 mi 1,160 yd (42.904 km).[6] One runner mentioned that many ended up jumping over a 3 ft (1 m) cable in a parking lot due to the error.[6]
^Ilyina stated that she was looking for a restroom when she ran into a gas station.[7][8][9] A referee stated that this gave her an advantage of at least 25 yd (23 m).[7]
^In an effort to publicize the new route, marathon executives tapped Division of Labor, a San Francisco based ad agency to create a campaign dubbed "A Landmark Every Mile".[17] It featured a quick succession of shots of the numerous iconic sites along the route. The campaign helped the marathon sell out for the first time in history.
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