Written by: Press Release
Posted: Tuesday, 04 March 2008
Photos by Rich Cruse
In what may well be the finest hour for the “triumph over adversity” mind-set at the heart of the 26.2 mile challenge, the 23rd annual City of Los Angeles Marathon presented by Honda on March 2, 2008 was filled with inspiring people who led by example from start to finish.
Tatayana Aryasova of Russia, making her marathon debut after giving birth to her first child in 2006, handily held off the male frontrunners after a 19:38 head start, to win the Banco Popular Challenge $100,000 bonus. She received a $20,000 cash prize for her 2:29:09 first place finish, along with a 2008 Honda Accord, as did Laban Moiben, a 24-year old Kenyan who broke the tape at 2:13:50. 
Saul Mendoza won the wheelchair race for the 7th time with a 1:31:12 finish and Cheri Blauwet won it for the 4th time with a 1:53:35 finish. Photos and complete results are available at www.lamarathon.com
It was a day that was filled with heart and heartbreak. For the first time in the race’s 23-year history, event organizers allowed a relay to be held. You could hear a pin drop on the start line when 30 L.A.P.D. SWAT team members and Chief William Bratton gathered for a torch lighting ceremony to honor the memory of Randal Simmons, the first SWAT team member in history to be killed in the line of duty. Immediately following, Simmons’ partner James Hart carried the torch for first leg of the journey. The torch was passed every three miles to SWAT team members and handed to Simmons’ 15-year old son Mat who carried it across the finish line where he was met by his mother, sister and other family members.
Legacy Runner Craig Chambers, one of 249 people who have run every L.A. Marathon, walked the race for the first time to keep his streak alive despite the debilitating effects of stage IV cancer. Another inspiring participant was Johan Otter, the recipient of the Marathon’s 2008 Patsy Choco Courage Award. A lifelong marathon runner, he nearly lost his life when he absorbed the attack of a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park to save the life of his teenage daughter Jenna.
The race was run for the 2nd year in a row on a point-to-point course beginning in the valley at Universal Studios Hollywood and ending at 5th and Flower opposite the Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown Los Angeles.
The course was designed along the Metro Red Line, which served the start and finish line areas and three points in between. Participants with bibs rode for free on race day. Spectators had the opportunity to watch the progress of the race at various points on the course.
This year, the race was highlighted by several new innovations. In the late stage of the race, participants heard more than 100 mariachis in The Mariachi Mile as the race progressed along Boyle Avenue in East Los Angeles. The final mile of the race featured large banners and inspiring quotes honoring Ernie Van Leeuwen, who ran his first of eleven Los Angeles Marathons at age 82. Also new to this year’s race was SAI Timing, a disposable computer timing strip.
Official broadcasters KNBC and KVEA offered a multi-platform approach for an enhanced viewer experience. KNBC (Channel 4) broadcast the race live on Sunday, March 2nd from 7:30AM to 11AM. KVEA (Channel 52) presented a Spanish-language broadcast from 7:30AM to 11:30AM. The stations offered live streaming of their telecasts on their respective web sites, KNBC.com and Telemundo52.com. This year, the stations’ web sites also offered live isolated camera feeds to give visitors the opportunity to customize their viewing experience. KNBC presented additional coverage on its Digital Channel 4.4 (Time Warner Channel 226) and aired a half-hour Marathon highlights show from 6:30PM-7PM on Channel 4.
Since 1986, the City of Los Angeles Marathon has been a unifying force in the city. Traditionally, since the race’s inception, the course wound its way through the multi-cultural heart of the city. Participants passed the Hollywood Bowl and ran Hollywood Blvd. through Koreatown. The route took them past Exposition Park, the Coliseum, Convention Center, Staples Center, the new Nokia Theater, into East Los Angeles, across the 6th Street Bridge with its dramatic view of downtown skyscrapers, the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory before ending in the corridor of high rises in the downtown business district.
For local residents and out of town visitors, this race has always been the single best way to discover the richness of the local culture as exemplified by the on-course entertainment and more than one million spectators lining the course and 12,000 volunteers who contribute their time to make each participant’s experience a memorable one.
One of the most unique aspects of the race was the Banco Popular Challenge. Based on statistical data culled from this year’s Elite Field, a time differential of 19:38 was announced race week which determined how far in advance the women would start before the men. The first person to cross the Finish Line won the $100,000 Banco Popular Challenge bonus on top of the $20,000 cash prize paid to the first place male and female finishers.
Race day also included the Acura L.A. Bike Tour and the L.A. Marathon 5K Run/Walk. Prior to Sunday’s race, the weekend’s activities included the two-day McDonald’s Quality of Life Expo which took place on February 29 and March 1 in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Other sponsors included Acura, American Airlines, Banco Popular, California Hospital Medical Center, KNBC, Saucony, Springfield and Telemundo.
The Los Angeles Marathon is the largest marathon held in California, the fourth largest in the country and the seventh largest in the world. It attracted runners from 50 states and 100 countries in 2007.
Race info is available at www.lamarathon.com or by calling (310)444-5544.
It's a really cool concept. We pick one day – Sunday, August 31 – and find out how many people around the world can lace up their running shoes and put in a whole bunch of miles. 
