Los Angeles Marathon

thumb|Traversing [[Olympic Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Olympic Blvd. in 2009]]

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 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Los Angeles. It is one of the five largest marathons in the country, with 26,000 participants.

Since 2020, the event has been sponsored by Asics and is officially titled the Los Angeles Marathon presented by ASICS.

History

thumb|[[Benjamin Limo at the start of the marathon in 2009]]

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 – 26 miles 385 yards – 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.

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. William Burke, the husband of former congresswoman and later Los Angeles County supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, was the inaugural president, and was responsible for obtaining corporate sponsorships and recruiting runners despite the lack of an organized running community. The first year had 11,000 entrants, the largest first-time marathon field, and ran a $357,000 operating deficit.

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.

Burke and business partner Marie Patrick sold the marathon to Devine Racing in 2004 for $15 million.

In 2008, Devine Racing sold the operating rights to the Los Angeles Marathon to then-Los Angeles Dodgers owner, Frank McCourt. McCourt announced in 2019 that he would donate the Los Angeles Marathon and parent company Conqur Endurance to The McCourt Foundation, a Boston-based philanthropic organization overseen by his cousin, Brian McCourt. The foundation uses the marathon as a means to fundraise with other charitable organizations.

The race date for 2009 was moved to Memorial Day, , 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.

The 2016 edition was held on to coincide with the U.S. Olympic Trials for the marathon held in Los Angeles the day before.

The 34th edition of the marathon took place on March 24, 2019.

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, mayor Eric Garcetti allowed the 2020 marathon to continue as scheduled on March 8, 2020.

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.

The 2026 edition, held on March 8, 2026, produced the closest finish in the marathon's history. Kenyan runner Michael Kimani Kamau led the men's race by 56 seconds at the 40-kilometer mark with a split of 2:03:40, running solo at the front through most of the second half. In the final stretch toward the finish in Century City, Kamau veered off the racing line at an unmarked turn after a spectator encounter; American Nathan Martin closed the gap with a finishing kick and was credited with the victory by 0.01 seconds in an official time of 2:11:17, eclipsing the previous closest margin of seven seconds set by Elisha Barno in 2019.

Course

thumb|Romanian [[Nuța Olaru in 2009]]

The original route in 1986 started at Exposition Park and ended at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The route around the turn of the millennium both started and ended in Downtown Los Angeles.

From 2007 to 2008, it started south of Universal City and ended in Downtown Los Angeles. Since McCourt purchased the marathon, the route has started at the Dodger Stadium parking lot ever since.

The iconic "Stadium to Sea" route started at Dodger Stadium and ended in Santa Monica.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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 2025, KTLA. Since 2026, the marathon has been broadcast on KNBC with a Spanish language broadcast on KVEA, under a contract which will last until 2029.

Top finishers

thumb|Winners [[Weldon Kirui and Nataliya Lehonkova with Mayor Garcetti, 2016]]

thumb|[[Simon Njoroge winning in 2012]]

thumb|[[Fatuma Sado winning in 2012]]

Ages of top finishers in the Masters category are given in parentheses.

Key:

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size=95%;"

!colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| Year

!Category

!colspan=2 |Men

!colspan=2 |Women

! colspan="5" style="text-align: left;" |2026 Results March 8, 2026

| Open || || 2:07:46 || || 2:30:16

| Wheelchair || || 1:38:09 || || 2:03:56

! colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"|2024 Results March 17, 2024

|Open

| Dominic Ngeno

|2:11:01

| Stacy Ndiwa

|2:25:29

|Wheelchair

| Francisco Sanclemente

|1:37:14

| Hannah Babalola

|2:19:24

! colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"|2023 Results March 19, 2023

|Open

| Jemal Yimer

|2:13:15

| Stacy Ndiwa

|2:31:02

|Wheelchair

| Francisco Sanclemente

|1:43:55

| Hannah Babalola

|2:50:35

! colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"|2022 Results March 20, 2022

|Open

| John Korir

|2:09:08

| Delvine Meringor

|2:25:04

|Wheelchair

| Tyler Byers

|1:49:17

| Corey Petersen

|3:23:32

! colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"|2021 Results November 7, 2021

|Open

| John Korir

|2:12:48

| Natasha Cockram

|2:33:17

|Wheelchair

| Cesar Gonzalez

|2:08:26

| Mary Thompson

|4:25:01

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2020 Results March 8, 2020

|Open || Bayelign Teshager || 2:08:26 || Margaret Muriuki || 2:29:27

|Masters || Carlos Lopez (42) || 2:37:49 || Madeleine Sargent (42) || 2:48:17

|Wheelchair || Rafael Botello Jimenez || 1:44:37 || Vanessa Christina de Souza || 1:59:55

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2019 Results March 24, 2019

|Open || Elisha Barno || 2:11:45 || Askale Marachi || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|2:24:11

|Masters || Jesse Williams (41) || 2:36:54 || Ingrid Walters (47) || 2:48:03

|Wheelchair || Joshua Cassidy

|Open || Weldon Kirui || 2:11:47 || Sule Gedo || 2:33:50

|Masters || Carlos Larios (45) || 2:34:18 || Ingrid Walters (46) || 2:55:28

|Wheelchair || Krige Schabort

|Open || Elisha Barno || 2:11:53 || Hellen Jepkurgat || 2:34:24

|Masters || Peter Lawrence (45) || 2:38:05 || Gina Johnson (43) || 3:10:27

|Wheelchair || Tom Davis || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|1:06:52 || Jenna Rollman || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|1:43:14

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2016 Results February 14, 2016

|Open || Weldon Kirui || 2:13:06 || Nataliya Lehonkova || 2:30:40

|Masters || Brett Bernacchi (43) || 2:40:07 || Rebecca Trachsel (41) || 3:05:29

|Wheelchair || Owen Daniels || 1:21:27 || Jenna Rollman || 1:53:44

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2015 Results March 15, 2015

|Open || Daniel Limo || 2:10:36 || Ogla Kimaiyo || 2:34:10

|Masters || Oswaldo Hurtado (41) || 2:34:03 || Victoria Russell (43) || 2:50:03

|Wheelchair || Scott Parson || 1:37:12 || Shirley Reilly || 2:00:27

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2014 Results March 9, 2014

|Open || Gebo Burka || 2:10:37 || Amane Gobena || 2:27:37

|Masters || Ricardo Ramirez (41) || 2:38:20 || Dolores Valencia (49) || 2:57:58

|Wheelchair || Joshua George || 1:33:11 || Susannah Scaroni || 1:54:54

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2013 Results March 17, 2013

|Open || Erick Mose || 2:09:43 || Aleksandra Duliba || 2:25:39

|Masters || Abderrahmane Djemadi (42) || 2:37:07 || Deena Kastor (40) || 2:32:39

|Wheelchair || Krige Schabort || 1:30:50 || Susannah Scaroni || 1:54:39

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2012 Results March 18, 2012

|Open || Simon Njoroge || 2:12:12 || Fatuma Sado || 2:25:39

|Masters || Nicholas Bowden (40) || 2:38:26 || Tetyana Mezentseva (40) || 2:31:20

|Wheelchair || Krige Schabort || 1:39:53 || Shirley Reilly || 1:57:09

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2011 Results March 20, 2011

|Open || Markos Geneti || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|2:06:35 || Buzunesh Deba || 2:26:34

|Masters || Juan Jose Ortiz Jauregui (44) || 2:44:10 || Svetlana Ponomarenko (41) || 2:38:56

|Wheelchair || Krige Schabort || 1:33:15 || Shirley Reilly || 1:57:25

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2010 Results March 21, 2010

|Open || Wesley Korir || 2:09:19 || Edna Kiplagat || 2:25:38

|Masters || Juan Ramirez (41) || 2:39:35 || Linda Somers-Smith (48) || 2:36:33

|Wheelchair || Krige Schabort || 1:31:51 || Amanda McGrory || 1:53:12

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2009 Results May 25, 2009

|Open || Wesley Korir || 2:08:24 || Tatyana Petrova || 2:25:59

|Masters || Martin Rindahl (45) || 2:43:17 || Carista Strickland (47) || 3:14:45

|Wheelchair || Aaron Gordian || 1:31:19 || Amanda McGrory || 1:48:13

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2008 Results March 2, 2008

|Open || Laban Moiben || 2:13:50 || Tatyana Aryasova || 2:29:09

|Masters || Fermin Sequen (40) || 2:34:34 || Tatiana Titova (42) || 2:51:32

|Wheelchair || Saul Mendoza || 1:31:12 || Cheri Blauwet || 1:53:35

! colspan=5 style="text-align:left;"| 2007 Results March 4, 2007

|Open || Fred Mogaka || 2:17:14 || Ramilya Burangulova || 2:37:54

|Masters || Yoshihisa Hosaka (58) || 2:49:06 || Ramilya Burangulova (45) || 2:37:54

|Wheelchair || Kurt Fearnley || 1:23:40 || Shelly Woods || 1:50:55

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2006 Results March 19, 2006

|Open || Benson Cherono || 2:08:40 || Lidiya Grigoryeva || 2:25:10

|Masters || Jose Ortiz Pina (43) || 2:33:23 || Lyudmyla Pushkina (40) || 2:41:15

|Wheelchair || Ernst Van Dyk || 1:24:48 || Shirley Reilly || 1:55:23

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2005 Results March 6, 2005

|Open || Mark Saina || 2:09:35 || Lyubov Denisova || 2:26:11

|Masters || Ezequiel Hernandez (41) || 2:45:01 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova (50) || 2:31:05

|Wheelchair || Kurt Fearnley || 1:30:11 || Cheri Blauwet || 1:51:45

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2004 Results March 7, 2004

|Open || David Kiptoo Kirui || 2:13:41 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova || 2:30:17

|Masters || Reynaldo Ramirez (40) || 2:35:38 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova (49) || 2:30:17

|Wheelchair || Joel Jeannot || 1:27:08 || Cheri Blauwet || 1:54:02

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2003 Results March 2, 2003

|Open || Mark Yatich || 2:09:52 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova || 2:29:40

|Masters || Robert Leonardo (40) || 2:40:46 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova (48) || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|2:29:40

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:27:07 || Cheri Blauwet || 1:50:06

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2002 Results March 3, 2002

|Open || Steven Ndungu || 2:10:27 || Lyubov Denisova || 2:28:49

|Masters || Jose Díaz (46) || 2:41:07 || Tatyana Pozdnyakova (47) || 2:30:26

|Wheelchair || Ernst Van Dyk || 1:28:44 || Ariadne Hernandez || 1:55:01

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2001 Results March 4, 2001

|Open || Steven Ndungu || 2:13:13 || Elana Paramonova || 2:35:58

|Masters || Raymond Baradas (41) || 2:38:43 || Teresa Boches-Saban (44) || 3:05:20

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:32:50 || Ariadne Hernandez || 2:04:30

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 2000 Results March 5, 2000

|Open || Benson Mutiisya Mbithi || 2:11:55 || Jane Salumäe || 2:33:33

|Masters || Marco Ortíz (50) || 2:27:33 || Judy Maguire (41) || 2:58:21

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:42:33 || Jean Driscoll || 2:12:17

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1999 Results March 14, 1999

|Open || Simon Bor || 2:09:25 || Irina Bogachova || 2:30:32

|Masters || Federico Yax || 2:32:19 || Judy Maguire || 2:54:12

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:28:43 || Deanna Sodoma || 2:03:44

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1998 Results March 29, 1998

|Open || Zebedayo Bayo || 2:11:21 || Lornah Kiplagat || 2:33:58

|Masters || Peter Rischl || 2:31:53 || Candy Clark || 3:08:56

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:29:57 || Kazu Hatanaka || 1:56:55

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1997 Results March 2, 1997

|Open || El-Maati Chaham || 2:14:16 || Lornah Kiplagat || 2:33:50

|Masters || Yoshio Ishizuka || 2:36:14 || Philomena Chandra || 3:03:10

|Wheelchair || Saúl Mendoza || 1:37:27 || Louise Sauvage || 1:49:22

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1996 Results March 3, 1996

|Open || Jose Luis Molina || 2:13:23 || Lyubov Klochko || 2:30:30

|Masters || Hugo Juárez || 2:33:26 || Lorraine Gersitz || 3:11:50

|Wheelchair || Heinz Frei || 1:27:10 || Jean Driscoll || 1:46:09

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1995 Results March 5, 1995

|Open || Rolando Vera || 2:11:39|| Nadia Prasad || 2:29:48

|Masters || John Bednarksi || 2:36:40 || Alfreda Iglehart || 3:13:29

|Wheelchair || Paul Wiggins || 1:36:06 || Jean Driscoll || 1:52:51

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1994 Results March 6, 1994

|Open || Paul Pilkington || 2:12:13 || Olga Appell || 2:28:12

|Masters || Gregg Horner || 2:34:20 || Emma Scaunich || 2:37:05

|Wheelchair || Phillipe Couprie and Paul Wiggins|| 1:34:52 || Connie Hansen || 1:48:58

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1993 Results March 7, 1993

|Open || Joselido Rocha || 2:14:28 || Lyubov Klochko || 2:39:48

|Masters || Dennis Bock || 2:36:32 || Candy Dodge || 3:03:10

|Wheelchair || Jan Mattern || 1:32:15 || Connie Hansen || 1:51:26

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1992 Results March 1, 1992

|Open || John Treacy || 2:12:29 || 30px Madina Biktagirova || 2:26:23

|Masters || Manuel García Pérez || 2:25:35 || Sandra Marshall || 3:02:47

|Wheelchair || Jim Knaub || 1:40:53 || Connie Hansen || 1:56:17

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1991 Results March 3, 1991

|Open || Mark Plaatjes || 2:10:29 || Cathy O'Brien || 2:29:38

|Masters || John Campbell (42) || bgcolor=#A9F5A9|2:14:33 || Priscilla Webb || 2:40:20

|Wheelchair || Jim Knaub || 1:40:43 || Connie Hansen || 1:57:11

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1990 Results March 4, 1990

|Open || Pedro Ortíz || 2:11:54 || Julie Isphording || 2:32:25

|Masters || John Campbell (41) || 2:20:15 || Graziela Striuli || 3:26:48

|Wheelchair || Moustapha Badid || 1:45:40 || Ann Cody-Morris || 2:03:49

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1989 Results March 5, 1989

|Open || Art Boileau || 2:13:01 || Zoya Ivanova || 2:34:42

|Masters || John Campbell (40) || 2:17:51 || Carol Mather || 3:02:57

|Wheelchair || Jim Knaub || 1:46:52 || Candace Cable-Brookes || 2:07:03

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1988 Results March 6, 1988

|Open || Martín Mondragón || 2:10:19 || Blanca Jaime || 2:36:11

|Masters || Bob Schlau (40) || 2:19:27 || Harolene Walters (47) || 2:54:18

|Wheelchair || Bob Molinatti || 1:56:35 || Candace Cable-Brookes || 2:19:38

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1987 Results March 1, 1987

|Open || Art Boileau || 2:13:08 || Nancy Ditz || 2:35:24

|Masters || Victor Mora García || 2:19:44 || Barbara Fituze || 2:47:21

|Wheelchair || Ted Vance || 1:54:06 || Candace Cable-Brookes || 2:05:45

! colspan=6 style="text-align:left;"| 1986 Results March 9, 1986

|Open || Ric Sayre || 2:12:59 || Nancy Ditz || 2:36:27

|Masters || Kjell-Erik Ståhl (40) || 2:19:20 || Harolene Walters (45)|| 2:57:26

|Wheelchair || Bob Molinatti || 2:16:36 || Candace Cable-Brookes || 2:23:10

Los Angeles Marathon

History

Municipal Games era

Los Angeles Lite era

Current era

Course

Community impact

Students Run LA

Legacy Runners

Television coverage

Top finishers

Notes

References

External links