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.
Contents
History
Municipal Games era
In 1970, a race of length 25 miles (40 km) 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, May 25, 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 February 14 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.
Course
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
Ages of top finishers in the Masters category are given in parentheses.
Key:
Course record