MarathonGuide.com Logo - Marathon Directory, Marathons, Marathon Results, News and More Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor facebook icon  twitter icon
Site Map
 
   Marathon Press Releases
Press Releases Home
City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon): Information & Reviews | News |
 

Press Release - Los Angeles Marathon - 3/2/06

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                 Contact: Karen Kalan, Los Angeles Marathon
                                          310-444-5544 x306
                                          
                                          Laurence Cohen, TLC MediaWorks
                                          310-474-5116

 
          Los Angeles Marathon Announces $23,000 Prize Purse 
                for Top U.S. and Californian Athletes
   Race to also offer $1000 bonuses to 2008 Olympic Trials Qualifiers


LOS ANGELES - (March 2, 2006) - For the first time in its 21-year history, 
the City of Los Angeles Marathon presented by Honda will be offering cash 
prizes to the top three American and Californian men and women to cross the 
finish line on Sunday, March 19. Included as part of the race's $417,600 
guaranteed prize purse, U.S. and California runners will also be competing 
for $18,000 and $5000, respectively, with the top three places per gender 
sharing the prize money. U.S. and California runners will be eligible to 
earn prize money in multiple categories. In addition, Marathon organizers 
announced a bonus of $1000 for any American athletes who run under the 2008 
Olympic Trials "A" qualifying times of 2:20:00 for men and 2:39:00 for 
women. 

"By offering these cash incentives, we hope to bring more of America's top 
runners to Los Angeles and to encourage them to run faster here on the way 
to competing on a world level," said Los Angeles Marathon President Dr. 
William A. Burke.

Currently the top American men are Chris Banks and Steve Moreno. Banks, who 
lives in Alexandria, Virginia, placed 7th and set his marathon personal best 
of 2:17:06 at the 2004 Twin Cities Marathon. He was the 1st American at the 
2003 Pan Am Games Marathon in Santo Domingo and a three-time qualifier for 
the NCAA Cross Country Championships while at Princeton University. Steve 
Moreno, a high school teacher from Oakland, was 15th at the 2004 U.S. 
Olympic Trials in 2:17:48, where he set his personal best.

For the women, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Heather Hanscom lead the field. 
Magdalena, the wife of Richie Boulet who will be competing in the Men's 
Professional Field, is a former UC-Berkeley track All-American and a 
volunteer coach for the Golden Bears Cross Country program. She was 5th at 
the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and has a marathon PR of 2:30:50 from that 
race. Hanscom, from Alexandria, Virginia, also set her personal best of 
2:31:53 at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis. 

In total, the Los Angeles Marathon will be offering $417,600 in prize money, 
including a $100,000 bonus to the winner of the Banco Popular Challenge, an 
innovation created by the event organizers in 2004. The Banco Popular 
Challenge is an unprecedented male-versus-female race in which the women are 
given a 'head start' based on statistics compiled from recent performances 
by the competing professional runners. The winners in the male and female 
division will also win a $35,000 first place prize plus a Honda Accord EX-V6 
valued at $27,300, giving the winner of the Banco Popular Challenge the 
largest guaranteed first place payout in the United States.

About the City of Los Angeles Marathon
The 21st running of the City of Los Angeles Marathon presented by Honda will 
take place the weekend of March 17-19, with the run beginning at 8:15am 
Sunday, March 19, 2006. The weekend's activities include the two-day Emerald 
Nuts Quality of Life Expo taking place on March 17-18 at the Los Angeles 
Convention Center, the Acura L.A. Bike Tour and the Emerald Nuts 5K 
Run/Walk. Sponsors of the event include Acura, American Airlines, Banco 
Popular, Emerald Premium Snacks, NBC 4, Saucony and Telemundo 52. The race 
will be broadcast live on NBC 4 from 7:30am to 11:00am, on Telemundo 52 from 
7:30am to 11:30am and on the worldwide web at NBC4.tv.

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 is 
expected to draw more than 25,000 runners from 50 states and 100 countries 
in 2006. In total, event day will include more than 45,000 participants for 
the 26.2 mile run, the Acura L.A. Bike Tour and the Emerald Nuts 5K 
Run/Walk. Visit the race website at: www.LAMarathon.com




                            ###

 

Some Ads

Become an Advertiser

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Become an Advertiser



All material Copyright ©2000-2024 MarathonGuide.com LLC (MarathonGuide.com). All rights Reserved.
Please Contact Us for more information.

MarathonGuide.com makes no representations as to the accuracy of information on this site or its suitability for any use. | privacy policy | refund policy