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City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 473 [displaying comments 301 to 311]
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Reyana Ewing from Pasadena, CA
(6/23/2005)
"NOT in the running for the best marathon" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I have done LA 3 times as well as New York, Chicago and San Diego Rock and Roll. I do NOT like the LA marathon at all because the organization stinks - getting to the start is very difficult - volunteers are rude. Most of the roads are blocked off. The gear check was tough to find - hardly any signs - I walked all over looking for the gear check. I run LA because it is local, but every time I do it, I say, 'Never again!!' The finish chute was manned by volunteers who threatened to call the police on runners because they did not keep moving - c'mon!! Why the negativity? After running 26.2 miles. The director - whatever her name is - was rude to me. I paid $80.00 to have a good time, but was treated poorly. One volunteer actually grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the corral to tell me to move down since she did not see a bracelet on my arm. Poor organization, and how about selecting volunteers who want to be there. San Diego corrals runners without any fiascos - can't LA learn from them? Assign your number based on your finish time and don't get caught up in bracelets and colors, etc. And for the money, I would think that the finish line would have some sort of festival or celebration - but nothing - how lame is that? Flower is too congested for a finish line festival. New York, San Diego RnR and Chicago are 100 times better. I am going to run Pacific Shoreline in Feb next year or Boston maybe - but LA I doubt it. | |
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L. S. from Los Angeles, California
(6/7/2005)
"Running in the City of Angels" (General Comments)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran my first marathon in L.A. in 1997 and I ran it again in 2005. The new corral start worked very well for me as I had a better position than in 1997. They accepted an older marathon time (2002) than what they had previously stated, but I was very gracious for that start. Corrals for all the runners/walkers would be highly recommended for next year. An earlier start would be better once again, though the weather in LA can be unpredictable. There are many hotels and parking spaces in the downtown area which can accommodate the large crowds. The crowds on the street were amazing and having your name or nickname on your bib made the experience even more personable and wonderful. The course changes made the race slightly faster, but it misses out on all the neighborhoods it had circled in the past. Running through Hollywood or Little Tokyo would be recommended again. The expo is great and larger than the expos in San Francisco and San Diego by far. Overall, I don't have many complaints about this marathon and I hope to run more in the years to come. | |
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z. z. from pennsylvania
(6/3/2005)
"Had a great time!" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Very much enjoyed the marathon. The course was nice, although it could have been improved by routing by some more sights like the Coliseum. Fan support was great in the residential areas, not so much in the industrial areas. Seemed to me like a well organized event. | |
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l. v. from chatsworth,califonia
(5/11/2005)
"it was so much fun" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 It was hard work but it was well worth it. | |
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s. m. from Long Beach, CA
(5/9/2005)
"will run this again, again, and again..." (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I enjoyed running downtown. I loved the L.A. Marathon. It is fun to run the circus - like big-city marathons with all of the crowds. Traffic jams at the start are normal and expected; if you don't like these things, then you may stay home or go run one of the many small marathons (there is truly an abundance of them). | |
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E. L. from New Jersey
(3/26/2005)
"The good, the bad, and the ugly" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My first LA Marathon was 13 years ago, my second last year. The positives and problems of last year remain. The positives: Great expo, quick last minute registration, excellent parking on race morning, really nice medals, plentiful water stops. The negatives: the late start guaranteeing a hot run, inaccurate mile markers, slow runners crowding to the front at the start. The inexcusable: 5K 'runners' walking the last couple of miles of the course when the fast runners are coming through. My heart goes out to the kids running for a deceased parent, but one of them is going to get injured someday darting in front of a runner unable to stop/swerve in time. I hope that the new race management restores the old course and moves the start to 7am, and confines the 5K walkers to the left lane, but that all is probably too much to hope for. It would take very little to make this one of the world's great marathons. It's ironic that so many people post exactly what is needed and that it never gets done. | |
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H. T. from Los Angeles
(3/24/2005)
"Great Spectators" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 2 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've been reading a lot of comments about an ugly course and late start, and I cannot totally agree with this. I don't think in Beverly Hills the support would be as good and I definitely don't want to run the Santa Monica Mountains. Even with an earlier start, that would not help a lot. LA Marathon attracts a lot of local people trying the marathon challenge, and with 6 or 7 hours or even longer, the heat is still going to be there. The support is fantastic and causes me to really love this city for 3 or 4 hours. Regarding the 'traffic jam' at the beginning of the race... I have run Chicago and it is jammed for 26.2 miles. | |
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Joann Jung from Studio City
(3/23/2005)
"Wonderful and Fun Race" (about: 2005)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is the 10th LA Marathon that I have run and I wish to convey my praise to those who worked so hard to make it one of the most enjoyable marathons that I have ever run. I have run in the New York, Boston, Chicago and many of the big city marathons in the U.S. and in Europe and have not found any that come close to the level of help and support that the people of the LA Marathon showed both me and my running team. Jane Jones has been instrumental in helping solve all the problems that my team and I have encountered over the many years. She and the staff at the LA Marathon have done an excellent job in making the LA Marathon more recognized internationally and to the popularity and growth of the race. My team and I will all be running in the next LA Marathon and we will be looking forward to another great race. Thank you Jane Jones and all the staff for all your great help. | |
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T. L. from Los Angeles, CA
(3/22/2005)
"Enjoyable hometown marathon" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 4-5 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 My fourth L.A. marathon. I miss the old course through Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Hollywood, and the Crenshaw District -- Leimert Park is nice and so is Hancock Park, and the start/finish at downtown beats Exposition Park, but the long stretches in the middle are miserably boring. Good organization, start is awfully crowded (impossible to reach the pace groups), and this race should start much earlier. 6 AM would be ideal. Either have the bike tour another day or get rid of it -- this is supposed to be a marathon with an ancillary bike ride, not a bike ride with a race attached. Spectators enthusiastic, weather much kinder than last year, and the finish line was well organized. One thing -- since this was L.A. XX, perhaps the theme color this year should have been something other than gold. Although Michelob Ultra was the beer sponsor, the logo on the T-shirts sure looked like that of Dos Equis! | |
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J. N. from San Francisco
(3/17/2005)
"Disappointing" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 Only in Los Angeles is there a traffic jam during the marathon as well as on the highways. Too many people, mediocre organization, and the staff, particularly the lead, Jean Jones or whatever her name is, is extremely rude and discourteous. If it wasn't my hometown, I doubt I would do this race again. |
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