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Nov 15, 2024

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 121 to 131]

More Comments: [ < 1 .. 11 12 13 14 15 .. 47 > ]

M. D. from Los Angeles (3/23/2010) "Wow....did anyone organize this thing?" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 Wow......I expected a lot out of this race due to the hype of the new course. However, I get the impression the Race Directors spent the entirety of their efforts in securing permits to make this a multi-city affair and did not pay attention to logistics. I have done many marathons and triathlons. I have even done LA marathon two other times and I must say this was the worst race experience I have ever had. Is it true that the Race Directors are runners themselves b/c I do not think they have ever participated in an actual race? Otherwise, the massive organizational problems that occurred would not have happened. I will say the actual course change was great. BRAVO!!!! The run went through a variety of different areas and people got to see a lot of the tourist attractions in Los Angeles. That is the only nice thing I can say about this race, however. Otherwise: 1. Who was lucky enough to participate in the 110 N 5 K before the race b/c traffic was at a standstill? I live 25 minutes away from Dodger Stadium and left my home two hours before the event. There was no traffic at all until the last 4 miles before the Stadium. At that point, traffic just stopped. As a result, hundreds of passengers evacuated their cars and ran the freeway up into the Stadium. Not safe, but there were not any other options. How is it that a stadium that accommodates 56K people can't accommodate the traffic of 25K marathoners? I felt particularly bad for the people who tried to play it safe by taking the shuttles in from Santa Monica. After my husband dropped me off on the 110 N, he saw at least 20 other shuttles with runners sitting at a standstill. I presume the shuttle driver would not allow them to participate in 110 N 5K for liability reasons. The passengers I saw looked like sad little puppies with their noses pushed up against the windows watching the rest of us run into the stadium. I was VERY thankful I did not try the shuttle service. I am also assuming this is where the majority of the pacesetters where stuck, as spectators were complaining that they only saw two or three people holding pace signs, so they couldn't gauge their loved ones expected arrivals (apparently the website was crashing frequently, so tracking online was wishy-washy as well, even for those with internet access on their phones). 2. Okay, who was the bright person who only ordered about 40 porta potties? I sat in line for 40 minutes waiting to use one. Everyone else did too and that is why so many runners did not start the already-delayed race on time. This amount of porta potties may be appropriate for 10,000 runners, not 25,000 participants. But the real question is, who was the even brighter person who separated the porta potties from the start with the actual course? Classic!!!! I actually started laughing at first. Then I felt horrible for the wheelchair athletes b/c these potties were at a downhill area of the beginning of the course. Naturally, the wheelchair athletes were trying to fly down the hill to get the best possible times. Unfortunately, these men and women had to brake to allow runners to race back and forth between the porta potties and the starting line. 3. Where was all the signage? Not only was signage horrible at the Expo yesterday and the congestion getting bibs was insane, but spectators had no idea where to meet up with their runners. The LA Marathon website said there was a Family Reunion section with ABC signs so people could find a spot to meet up post race. The volunteers did not know where this meet up area was and neither did the police officers. Finally, a very nice policeman called someone who knew where it was. I eventually found it, but my hubby wasn't lucky enough to run into this nice cop, so we had a fun game of 'Where's Waldo?' post race. First time marathoners, don't judge your marathon experience based on this one marathon. There are great local marathons (Like Surf City in Huntington Beach) and well-organized larger races like Boston and Rock N' Roll San Diego and Phoenix. I was sad to hear so many of the first time runners saying they never wanted to do another race after their experience at 2010 LA. They are heaps of fun when organized properly! I commend Frank Mccourt for creating this new course. That was the lone piece of brilliance today. I would suggest, however, that he would have had better luck with logistics had he selected two random people at the Expo to organize Race Day. We all know that a race is only as good as the Race Directors' skills and Los Angeles Marathon 2010 again proved that Los Angeles has a long way to go before it can compete with some of the largest national marathons throughout the country.
A. S. from California (3/23/2010) "Poor organization" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 The shuttle situation/car drop off situation to Dodger Stadium was a nightmare. It took well over an hour to travel from downtown to the start line via the marathon's organized shuttle service. People were jumping out of vehicles and walking on the freeway towards Dodger Stadium. It seemed like there were many logistical issues being figured out to the last minute as e-mails from race management were being sent less than 12 hours before the race. The corrals were another nightmare. They were not clearly demarcated and none of the volunteers seemed to have a clear understanding of where to go. Everyone was packed like sardines in the sub 4 corral, and with the heat and humidity rising, the 22 minute late start affected me. Everyone pacing between a 3:00-3:59 were thrown together and there was no organization within the corral, which meant there were definitely 3:59 marathoners lined up at the front of the corral. The spectators along the course were great. I think the course was inaccurately marketed as being a fast, downhill course. If you want to have fun out there and aren't stressed to hit a certain time, then this is the course for you.
J. W. from Crestline, CA (3/23/2010) "LA Marathon Organizers Hit a Home Run" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A year after almost killing this marathon by moving the date not once but TWICE the LA Marathon organizers revitalized the race and made it better than ever. This marathon has always been one of my favorites, but after last years Memorial Day debacle I went into this race with a critical eye. It was obvious to me that a lot of thinking went into every detail of this race. It wasn't perfect by any means and there are some areas for improvement but those areas are few and quite fixable. The good: 1. Reserved parking in Santa Monica - brilliant! No stress about finding parking. 2. Shuttle buses to Dodger stadium with reserved times! Again, brilliant. And if more people had used them, we would not have been delayed at the start for people getting dropped off at the stadium. 3. Opening Dodger stadium for the runners prior to the race was the smartest idea I've ever seen. I had envisoned sitting on cold asphalt for hours waiting for the start, but instead was sitting comfortably in the stands watching great marathon videos on the big screen! You could even go down onto the outfield grass to warm up, stretch or just hang out, awesome! 4. The spectators, as always, came out and made their presence known. They were GREAT. 5. The best entertainment of any marathon NOT called Rock-n-Roll. Areas for improvement: 1. More starting corrals, please 2. Lose the water station at Mile 1. No marathon needs a water station that early, it only creates a bottleneck at a time when you're trying to get 25,000 runners on their way! 3. Congestion in Santa Monica, both people and cars. Not sure what you can do about the cars, but I'm also not sure why they made it so hard to get down to the beach party and the pier. If they had shortened the post-finish line runners corral by 20 feet, they wouldn't have blocked off the access to the pier for many of the spectators. Overall great job and with a few tweaks this could become what they've always been trying to make it, a Teir I marathon!
Dotty Maddock from Phoenix, AZ (3/23/2010) "Nice Tour of LA, but Organization Has Issues" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my 67th marathon, and I've done some of the huge ones (NYC, Boston, Disney, Phoenix R&R) as well as many small ones. I know the larger marathons have challenges, but comparing LA to the other big ones I definitely saw some issues with the organization: 1. My biggest issue was rhe start time. First, there was a different start time depending on which website, e-mail, or other race document you read. They varied from 7:20 to 7:27. I could live with that. However, we didn't start moving to the starting line until 7:48. I understand there were some kind of traffic problems. Tough! Some of us headed the 'get there early' repeated warnings and were on a 4:00am shuttle bus and waited around at Dodger Stadium for over 3 hours. I had made post-race arrangements based on a start by 7:30. It is inexcusable, in my view, to start a race late. Poor organization. 2. When I got to the expo at 1:00pm on Saturday, the only shirts they had left were women's small (like a very small) and men's large. My registration showed clearly that I needed a women's medium. They just shrugged and said 'which size do you want from what we have left'. Again, very poor planning. 3. Do they not have any directional signs in LA? Getting to the expo, once you were in the Dodger stadium parking lot even, required asking other runners (carrying goody bags back to their cars) which way to go. Again, on race morning, arriving on the shuttle bus at Dodger Stadium, we wandered around in the dark trying to find the start and waiting areas. 4. Traffic in Santa Monica is absolutely horrible. Count on an hour (at least) to try to get through the lights to get about a mile to the freeway. I won't drag you through the logistics, but basically too many pedestrians, ineffective traffic control, and selfish drivers blocking intersections. A very poor way to end the experience. Now, on the positive side, the Dodger Stadium open on race morning was cool! The race course itself was interesting, and did showcase many famous LA locations. The aid / water stations were plentiful and included some unique items (pain spray at mile 18, pain patches, ice, towels, etc.). The specatators were awesome and volunteers always rule in my book! The finisher's medal is good quality. I didn't get to finish the post race party, due to the late start and my travel logistics. Overall, I'm glad I experienced this race once, but won't be back.
P. D. from Santa Monica, CA (3/23/2010) "Great new course" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon, and the new 2010 course was a great one to complete for my first. It went through a lot of destination parts of LA, and ended at the ocean. Some of the hills were pretty challenging, but the last few miles were downhill all the way. Minus a few logistical issues (gridlock in Santa Monica at the finish), I think they really got it right this year. Hopefully, they'll keep the same course for 2011.
R. G. from Rowland Heights, California (3/23/2010) "Typical L.A. Traffic" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This is my 76th marathon (13th L.A. in a row). " Expo layout was ridiculous. Having so much property available at Dodger Stadium, why cram it into an area the size of a postage stamp? It was hot, it was crowded (because of narrow areas available for walking). Instead of wanting to browse and shop, I picked up bib and left as quickly as possible. " Morning shuttle commute. A disaster (through no fault of the driver). TOO MUCH traffic getting to start line. A lot of people were anxious to get to start so they opted to walk in and out of traffic on the freeway. Unfortunately by the time I got off the bus, it was too late to do anything other than walk to starting corral. " What's with the start line? On the streets of L.A. you have at least the width of five lanes to accommodate 25,000 runners. At Dodger Stadium we were packed in tighter than a can of sardines. " I parked two blocks away from finish line which is less than one mile (.7) to freeway on ramp it took me one and one half hours (1 1/2) to drive that less than one mile distance which was extremely frustrating and one hour+ to drive home after that. Santa Monica has only one freeway out...the 10. Downtown L.A. has the 5, 10, 110, 101 so many more options. " Course was enjoyable, however, it was not as fast or downhill as advertised. Volunteers and entertainment was good. " I live here but I will not plan to run L.A. again. The medal is not worth trying to elbow your way through the Expo or sitting in traffic for hours. " Move Expo back to Convention Center. Move finish line back to downtown L.A.
C. A. from San Diego, CA (3/23/2010) "Worst Organization but good course" (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 LA sold out their Marathon for the first and last time Sunday. It would take me a novel to explain all the faults so let me just give you the bullet points. -Waited in line for over an hour in the hot sun to pick up my bib. -Walked over a mile from my car to the Expo. -they ran out of all Men's shirts and almost all Women's shirts. For 136$ this is inexcusable. -Race day Traffic was worse than feared. People were literally jumping out of their cars on the FREEWAY and running two miles to the start. -The Start was pushed back TWICE! -Not enough toilets and than they tried to close them with thousands of people waiting in line. -No one was in the correct Corrals so you had walkers in the sub-4 hour and sub 3 start. -48 hours later still don't have the correct official time and some people don't have a time at all! Some Good - Enjoyed the course it was very nice and the volunteers and spectators were top notch. I will never run the LA Marathon Again.
G. B. from calif, usa (3/23/2010) "Small space for Expo for the crowd ridiculous." (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 7th time running LA Marathon. Scheduling a 5k that ends near the time the expo opens on Sat was a nightmare for both drivers and parking lot attendants. 45 minutes to park from entering stadium. Grid lock galore !!!! After walking more than half a mile to expo, I felt like as if I was cattle trying to move to the very end of expo to pick up bib and goodie bag. I always look forward to the LA Expo and was sooooooo disappointed. I doubt the merchants made much money. I along with others could not get out of there fast enough and that was at 10:30 am....already hot. I was disappointed w/ no Poster or pin. And thought for the 25th anniversary. And a new route there would be a special medal or something to commemorate. The starting line was so narrow for so many people. I felt like a sardine in a small can and to have to wait for the late race start was very uncomfortable. We took the 5:30 shuttle and did ok; but we knew the shuttles behind us were not going to make it in time. With all the room at Dodger Stadium I don't understand the lack of parking entrances and spots for us to park in another area the 5K'rs parked. Logistical nightmare is an understatement. Keep the expo at convention center.
P. P. from California (3/23/2010) "Was alright" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Course was pretty nice compared to the previous years. Water stations were unorganized, especially in the first few miles. Some had no water/PowerAde ready. And I didn't notice until the day before... no gel/GU? Seriously? I know that this sounds negative and all, but the course itself was pretty nice. Amazing spectators!!!!!
Martin Fajardo from Monterey, CA (3/23/2010) "Spectacular course and fans. Organizers failed." (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 First of all, the course and support form the hundreds of thousands of spectators was memorable. They deserve a special thank you on the front page. My only complaint was on the organization of the event. The Expo was very crowded. It was held at Dodger Stadium. OUTSIDE!!!! Plenty of room to do it right the first time!!! Instead all vendors, speakers, registration, etc were crammed into a small area!!! Why?? No excuse for this. The runners deserve better than this. Traffic into the stadium for the expo and race was inexplicably horrendous. The stadium supports over 50,000 spectators, but could not handle 25,000!! Why? The race was delayed due to people not being able to get into the stadium. The organizers should be happy that the day was overcast. If Sunday would have been a replica of Saturday, a 7:47 start would have brought on numerous medical emergencies. Lastly, the starting corrals. Again, poor or inexperienced organizing. The sub 4 and sub 3 were impossible to get into. The corrals were not very wide. YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE STADIUM TO USE. Don't screw it up at the start. I will try again next year and see if any of these comments are considered. Good luck.

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