The Long Delayed LAM Race Report

The late morning sunshine warmed my back as I sat on the curb looking on towards the sea of people parading through the street down Ocean Avenue.  The 2020 Los Angeles Marathon was in full swing as thousands of runners continued to cross the finish line further down the street, where their families and friends waited to congratulate them.  I had finished about an hour ago, gone back to my car to change into my sandals and a clean shirt, and came back to the finish area to wait for my friends.  Before long, my good friend Edith emerged through the crowd and took a seat next to me on the curb.  "Congratulations!  How do you feel?"  Although she was in pain, Edith had crushed her previous marathon PR by over thirty minutes.  I was thrilled!  She trained extra hard for the LA Marathon this year and had accomplished her goal.  Although her legs were yelling at her, she was feeling great mentally.  We were soon joined by our friend Nellie who had come out for support.  The finish line area was becoming increasingly more crowded, so we decided it would be a better idea to wait for the rest of our friends at the beer garden, which was being held at a local bar on the 3rd Street Promenade.  Edith's boyfriend, Danny had planned to pick her up, so we congratulated her one last time and bade her farewell.  After we parted ways, Nellie and I made our way through the crowded streets of downtown Santa Monica towards the beer garden.  When we arrived we rendezvoused with our friends, took photos, and congratulated each other.  When I saw JC, my good friend who paced me the last twenty miles at Tahoe Rim Trail 100 the previous summer, he informed me that he had dropped out at the halfway point.  I ran by him at mile twelve and although he was in pain, he still seemed to be going strong, but it sounded like his decision to drop was a wise one.  He had strained a muscle in his hip and feared that if he continued, the injury could become more serious.  Sometimes it's best to just listen to your body, even though dropping out of a race can be emotionally painful.

Getting out of LA took a while.  It wouldn't be Los Angeles if there wasn't traffic, and the street closures during the marathon were certainly a contributing factor.  But several hours later as I drove up the five freeway through the Central Valley, it occurred to me that of all the times I've ran the LA Marathon, I've never written a race report.  So, now would probably be a good time!  However, before I get into how the 2020 LA Marathon went, allow me to set the background for why this race is so symbolic for me.  Saturday, March 2nd, 2012 is a day I will always remember.  It was the day I moved to California from Chicago.  I stepped off the plane at LAX airport with a backpack and a beat-to-shit, overstuffed duffel bag.  I had enough stuff to last me about two weeks before the rest of my belongings arrived in boxes I had sent from Chicago through USPS.  I was starting a new job on Monday and I wasn't broke, but my aunt and uncle, who live two miles away from the airport, were kind enough to let me crash with them until I got the ball rolling, so to speak.  My uncle would later recall that when he picked me up from LAX that night, my demeanor indicated that emotionally, I was both excited and terrified.  Sounds about right.  A few days later while surfing the internet, I saw that the 2012 LA Marathon was going to be on the 18th, about two weeks away.  Initially I didn't think much of it, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I should sign up.  I had spent the last six weeks knocking off thirty to thirty-five miles a week through the Chicago winter, mainly for fun, and I hadn't ran any further than ten miles since the fall (this was before my ultramarthon days).  The LA Marathon course intrigued me; it was point to point, my favorite type of course.  I also noticed that it started at Dodger Stadium and ended at the beach in Santa Monica.  For someone who had just moved to Los Angeles from the Midwest, that sounded pretty friggin' cool.  Despite my lack of distance training, I decided to take a chance, and I signed up.  I still, to this day don't quite know what got into me the morning of the race.  Maybe I was having a great running day, maybe I was fueled by the excitement of now living in California.  Who knows.  Whatever the case, I ran my fastest marathon to date that day.  Since then, I've finished the race nine straight times, every year since 2012.  I ran with my buddy, Julian for a couple of years.  He was one of the first friends I made in Los Angeles, and we'd spend our Saturday mornings training for the marathon by running along the ocean through Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Playa Del Rey, the Venice Beach boardwalk, and Santa Monica.  Other years I ran with my co-workers and my hiking friends.  In 2016, when the race was held on Valentine's Day, I proposed to my former wife after the race.  And most recently, I've been traveling to Los Angeles from the Bay Area to participate.  The point is that as the years go by and my life changes, running the LA Marathon is one thing I can always count on, and it has now become something of an annual tradition. 

The typically busy streets of downtown Santa Monica were desolate and quiet on the morning of the 2020 LA Marathon as I turned into the parking structure.  Once I chose a spot, I made my final preparations and began walking towards the shuttle pickup area at Santa Monica City Hall as I sipped from a cup of piping hot 7-Eleven coffee.  Because the course is point to point, the organization offers shuttles to transport runners from Santa Monica, where the race ends, to the start line at Dodger Stadium.  It was still dark outside and the predawn air was crisp and energizing.  The events that led up to this morning included a fairly uneventful drive in the early morning hours to LA from Sunnyvale the morning before, spending time with my aunt and uncle, meeting some friends for pizza the night before, getting all the way to my aunt and uncle's house and having to drive 30 minutes all the way back to the pizza restaurant because I left my debit card on the table, and getting a fairly restful night's sleep in my aunt and uncle's guest room.  As I approached city hall, the shuttles emerged.  The race had sold out this year so there was a long line waiting to get on the shuttles, but it moved quickly and we had a smooth ride to the start line.  Upon arriving at Dodger Stadium, I ran into a few of my friends in the parking lot while heading for the restroom and we wished each other luck.  The organization had set up several portable restrooms in the parking lot, which was helpful, although I was truly flabbergasted when I discovered that a few people were stealing rolls of toilet paper from the inside.  At the time, COVID-19 was becoming a major public health issue in California and people had already started panic buying toilet paper.  Now people were stealing it from portable restrooms.  So much for being calm, rational human beings, I guess. 

At 7:00 AM the gun went off and the marathon was underway.  A huge sea of 22,000 runners charged from the start line as music blared, the race officials spoke over the loud speaker, and reporters and spectators cheered from the sidelines.  We made our way out of the stadium parking lot and down Sunset Blvd.  Because of the massive amount of participants, the organization starts the race in staggered corrals to avoid overcrowding, for which I was thankful.  Having too many people on the course in the early stages of a race can cause congestion and potential for runners to trip and fall.  During the first few miles, we drifted along Spring street through Chinatown where we encountered a group of spectators dancing on a street corner in Chinese dragon costumes, and into Little Tokyo where we powered up the first hill of the race.  At the crest of the climb we made a right turn past a large group of people playing Japanese percussive instruments.  The sound of taikos being played was energizing to me and I smiled and waved to them as I cruised by.  One of the things I love about this race is that it showcases the diversity of Los Angeles magnificently.  I often jokingly describe it as the best tour of LA ever.  Families gathered along the sidewalks outside of their homes in Angelino Heights to cheer on runners, and as we cruised into Echo Park around mile six, I noticed that a group of people had set up a hot dog stand on the side of the road.  I laughed out loud at the thought of anyone wanting a hot dog six miles into a marathon, but nevertheless, some runners decided to partake.  As we ran down Sunset Blvd. we ran past Masa of Echo Park, one of my favorite pizza restaurants in Los Angeles.  They were one of the very few places in my experience that crafted real deep dish Chicago style pizzas.  Because they take so long to bake, you have to order sometimes an hour in advance, but it's so worth it!  Shortly after passing the seven mile mark, we ran down a hill into Silver Lake which treated us to an astounding view.  Down the hill in front of us rested a panorama of buildings, palm trees, and small mountains in the distance.  I soon passed through one of the many water stations during the race, where I grabbed a cup of water from a volunteer and drank it down.  Most of the water station volunteers consisted of middle school and high school students along with teachers and other members of the community.  Volunteers really do a great job of making races like this happen, and I made a conscious effort to thank the volunteers and tell them how awesome they were as often as I could while passing through the water stations along the route.  As we ran into Hollywood around mile nine, Sunset Blvd. turned into Hollywood Blvd. and we ran along as the tall buildings blocked the sun from the palm tree lined street.  Before long, I approached the halfway point, where I encountered a rambunctious group of spectators sporting Mexican flags with bike horns and noise makers.  Their energy made me smile and I gave them a few hand claps and shouts as I passed by.  It was around this point, that I passed JC.  We embraced in a hug as I ran by, but sadly, he was having some serious pain in his hip.  I gave him some words of encouragement before continuing on towards the thirteen mile mark.  The one thing that irks me about the LA Marathon is the fact that there are mile markers every mile on huge pillars with a clock showing how much time has elapsed since race start.  This concept is very different than the trail ultramarathons in the mountains that I'm used to running.  Being made constantly aware of what mile I'm on and what my pace is during a race has the ability to drive me crazy in a psychological sense.  I prefer to just run and not worry about things like that.  During the first few miles I tried to ignore the mile marker pillars and the clocks, but at mile five I gave up.  Just because I wasn't used to it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it, and it doesn't mean I can't adapt.  So, I decided to appeal to the resilient side of my personality and instead of fighting it, I accepted it.  When we're forced into situations in life that we're not used to it's always better to try to adapt and make the best of things than to resist.  So, from mile five onward, I decided it was okay to notice the mile markers and clocks as I passed by.

A few miles later at mile sixteen we ran past the famous Whisky-A-Go-Go club aka "The Whisky" just before banking left off of Sunset Blvd. onto San Vicente.  I've always been a big music guy and although I've developed a wide musical taste in different genres over the years, Motley Crue remains my all time favorite band.  I thought about back in 1981 when no one knew who they were and they developed a cult following by performing at the Whisky every night.  Several other bands from the LA scene, especially during the 80's also got discovered by performing there.  That place sure has a lot of history.  Things seemed to be going pretty well as I covered more miles through West Hollywood and down Rodeo Drive through Beverly Hills.  As I ran down Santa Monica Blvd. the crowd support was growing more intense, which I enjoyed because the further I progressed, the more exhausted I became.  The street was now lined with cheer leading squads from locals schools, marching bands, booths from local charities, and local people who just wanted to come out and watch.  Their energy was a powerful tonic and I could feel my pace gradually getting stronger as I moved forward.  Just as I approached mile twenty, I heard people calling my name from the sidelines.  It was my friend Alex and his wife Krissy.  I would have loved to go high five them, but they were on the other side of street and I had already ran past them by the time I noticed them, so I just clapped my hands and said "Yeah! hey guys!"  No matter how many times I run this race, I always seem to hit the proverbial wall while I'm running through Brentwood around miles twenty-two and twenty-three on San Vicente Blvd..  In 2015 it was eighty-eight degrees out and by the time I reached mile twenty-three my legs were so cramped up, I had to sit on the curb and stretch them out for a few minutes.  I was ready to quit because I didn't think I could keep going, but thanks to some supportive spectators, I sucked it up, got back on my feet, and hobbled my way to the finish line.  Luckily, today I had kept things pretty stable so I continued running as the crowds continued to cheer us on.  As I approached mile twenty-five, I recognized some familiar faces along the side of the road up ahead.  It was my friends Corina and Sheny Espino, the Espino sisters.  They were leaders of a local running group called "Anytime Runners".  The three of us along with the help of a few others worked collectively to get our friends Tony and Gus through the Rio Del Lago 100 miler last November.  It was great fun pacing those guys from mile forty-four to seventy-four.  Corina paced them from there to the finish line and Sheny waited for them at all of the crew check points to provide them with food and provisions.  I ran by, gave them each a big hug, and promptly resumed forward progress.  With just a mile and a quarter left, I tried not to get ahead of myself.  Although I had been feeling pretty good, anything could still happen.  At this point, the best thing to do is just keep moving and hope that nothing goes wrong.  But be ready in case something happens.  When I finally made the left turn onto Ocean Avenue from San Vicente, I knew I was on the homestretch.  From there it was around a half a mile to the finish line.  The seaside air felt cool and refreshing as I ran the final stretch of the race down Ocean Avenue and across the finish line.  Even though it was my ninth time finishing, it always feels great when I take those final steps across the finish line.  I still wasn't able to crack my PR from 2012, but nonetheless, I had a solid race, and felt good pretty much the whole time.  I was thankful for all of the volunteers and race staff for being there to ensure we had a successful event.  The dancing dragons in Chinatown, the taiko band in Little Tokyo, the hot dog stand in Echo Park, the beautiful scenery in Silver Lake, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills, all the way to the last thing I saw that caught my attention; a spectator during the final half mile stretch holding a poster that read "You Fucking Did It!".  It was a great day and I relished in the magic of it all as I walked to my car, changed into my sandals and a clean shirt, and returned to the finish area.  I hobbled through the crowd and sat down on the curb, legs stretched out, waiting for my friends to finish.