Runnerville

2010 LOS ANGELES MARATHON

The brand new “Stadium to the Sea” racecourse introduced for the 25th City of Los Angeles Marathon will take the runners from Dodger Stadium in Echo Park to Santa Monica by the sea via some of the most iconic sections of the Los Angeles area. The event has “sold out” for the first time in history at 25,000, and will include 233 “legacy” runners who have run every L.A. marathon since 1986. That, in itself, is a remarkable number.

What’s most intriguing about the new course isn’t just the point-to-point passing of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Brentwood, and on into Santa Monica. This new course has a net elevation drop of 480 feet, with the second half descending a whopping 325 of those feet! Boston, by comparison, drops 430 feet in total and just 120 feet in its second half. Who knows if all the down hills will affect the quads the way Boston does (watch for how many runners walk downstairs backwards on Monday). There is only one significant hill in the entire second half, coming from miles 20-21, same place as Heartbreak Hill does in Boston. The elevation gain is similar, as well, Heartbreak rising 80 feet, and Purple Heart Hill (it’s at the Veteran’s Administration complex) marching 77 feet up. While Boston is a mild series of downhills through Brookline into Boston’s Back Bay, miles 24 - 26 from Brentwood into Santa Monica descend 81’, 103’, and 73’ respectively. Again, on paper that may make it fast, but we will have to see how the runners legs hold up after the previous pounding. 

Defending men’s champion Wesley Korir (2:08:24 in 2009) came to inspect the course a few weeks back, and said it had 2:06-2:07 speed. I spoke with Runner’s World’s Bart Yasso who also thinks it will be fast based on running the last 8 miles several times. This is the first time the course has had a net elevation drop in its history, as all previous L.A. Marathon courses stayed within the city limits, forcing the runners to return uphill into downtown.

If the runners can manage the first eight miles which have a lot of turns, and can negotiate a 90-foot hill in the fourth mile up First Avenue as the course passes the Frank Gehry-designed Disney Concert Hall, there is a chance for L.A.’s first significant world-class finishing time. Field analysis below the break.

THE FIELDS

The men’s field is very deep with the top three finishers from last year - Korir, Tariku Jufar of Ethiopia, and Laban Kipkemboi of Kenya. I can’t think the last time a defending L.A. champ actually came to the city to inspect the course before hand. Korir pocketed over $188,000 for last year’s win, course record, and Gender Challenge victory. He’s serious about repeating. There are seven men with PRs under 2:10 to challenge him, however, AND five more sub-2:11s.

The women’s field, however, is as thin as the men’s is juicy, with only two sub-2:30s represented - Ashu Kasim of Ethiopia, 2:25:49 and Silvia Skvortsova of Russia, 2:26:24. From there the quality drops quickly. Seeds 3 & 4, Teba Naser (2:30:39) and Lemitu Abera (2:31:01) of Ethiopia have already run marathons in 2010, Naser winning at Rock `n` Roll in Phoenix, and Abera taking 3rd on the same day in Houston. However, there is one intriguing woman, Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, who is a very accomplished half-marathoner (69:32) showing good form as she comes into L.A. She finished 4th at the Kenyan Police Cross Country Championships in January. She has, in truth, run one previous marathon, a 2:50:20 in Las Vegas 2005, but after finishing only 10th at the Kenyan National XC Champs, she is motivated, and could upset the more experienced marathoner runners.

The question is: will the women attack a new course as they try to hold off the deep men’s field in the Gender Challenge with its $100,000 prize awaiting the top overall finisher? A late entrant, # 65 Tiki Gelana, 22, of Ethiopia is reportedly in fine shape with a 2009 debut of 2:333:49 in Dublin (3rd place).

The differential in the Gender Challenge, which gives the professional women a head start based on the relative strength and depth of the two fields, will be announced at Friday’s press conference.  The weather for the late March start should be mid-50s for the pros starting off, rising to the mid-70s for the slower types finishing in five and six hours.

After a marathon legacy that would have to be considered minimal for such a world-class city, could this be the year the L.A. Marathon breaks out of the second-rank pack? That there is no drug-testing for the pros is not a good sign. Though race officials have said through their PR person that their focus this year is on managing the sold-out field running over the newly-designed race course. But serious is as serious does, and one would have hoped the new marathon owner, Frank McCourt of L.A. Dodger ownership, would have chosen to fully embrace a new direction from previous owners.  But, as my father used to tell me all the time:  “We must all live our own lives”.   In other words, it ain’t our call.  We await the results with anticipation. You can watch the telecast of the race on UniversalSports.com, or on KTLA in Los Angeles.  The race begins at 7 a.m. pacific time.

END

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