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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 31 to 41]
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K. B. from NYC
(3/14/2014)
"Great spectators, great course!" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Wow, I'm the first to review the 2014 race? This was my 16th marathon overall and my first LA. I thought I would melt into a puddle, having trained in the frigid East Coast temps, but I enjoyed every minute of the (albeit, hot) day. The spectators were fun and encouraging, cheering for me by name more than in most of the other races I have run. The course was really fun and I very much appreciated the downhill slope at the end that dumps you off with a beautiful view of the beach! I stayed at one of the marathon-sanctioned hotels in Santa Monica, which I believe was logistically the right call. The shuttle picked us up a very close walk from the hotel and the race ended a very close walk from the hotel, as well. My only real complaint is that I wish I had prepared better for the wait at Dodger Stadium. I did not bring any layers (my fault, really), so I was pretty cold. They also did not have any coffee, which I was really hoping to get my hands on. Again, my fault for not prepping and bringing my own. The wait for the women's room wasn't bad at all! All-in-all, a new favorite of mine! | |
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M. G. from California
(3/12/2014)
"Security measures add 2 miles to course" (about: 2014)
3 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Expo and packet pickup were smooth. The Course itself was superb and the crowds were great. The shuttle dropped off about a mile from the start which was odd but ok. The killer was that after the finish, the streets were cordoned off for security with the result that there was NO SHADE within about a mile of the finish. Medical tent and bag pick up were all about a mile away on hot asphalt. | |
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B. R. from Reno, NV
(3/11/2014)
"overall a fun multicultural race" (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 What a race! Record breaking heat for LA. Started off nice and cool but warmed up after 930am. People were dropping like flies from the heat, especially at finish line. Water was plentiful until near the end when i needed it most. When i finally reached a water station the lady stated they were almost out of cups and i finished near the top quarter of people. Bathrooms were very crowded till after mile 13 with men relieving themselves on some hillsides. Daylight savings time spring forward this morning was extra rugged. Prerace bus shuttles had long lines of 25 min from Santa Monica. I was very exhausted from heat after race and was actually escorted by staff for the 3 blocks to family reunion area. I would've liked to have had the medal placed on me after i finished but the booth was off to the side and i actually passed it and had to return for it. They really needed restrooms in the finish area and the few they had were in the family reunion area so i needed to leave the watering hole to get there. Cop rescued me on a curb and took me to the cooling bus where they had water. Then i had to walk like two miles to get back to my car. Wished they had shuttle service to lot. Music and speakers along route were way too loud and i wished i had ear plugs. Tons of spectators and some people were crossing streets directly in front of us and i almost ran over one. They could've atleast tried to run with us and make there way sideways but no. Lots of junk on road before start and cups on road by water stations so you had to run carefully. Lady slipped right next to me on cups. I loved the 'I love LA' song playing at start and the cultural run through the downtown portions and Hollywood. Grew up in LA so this was a must race for me. Overall it was quite an experience and I was glad for all the security. | |
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Dana Mosell from Walnut, CA
(3/10/2014)
"Course support in 2014 lacking without Gatorade" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Runners struggled with the heat (up to 88 degrees in some parts of the course) and then not to have the advertised Gatorade at each of the water stations was a major mistake. The course is beautiful and energetic but electrolytes should be on the course even if cool weather had preceeded the actual heat wave! | |
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G. L. from Western Austral
(4/5/2013)
"VERY ORGANISED, GREAT SUPPORT" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is one of the best of the 8 marathons I have done. The crowd support is great, the course is flat and easy compared to the others I have experienced. The volunteers were amazing - drinks and food were distributed at every mile. I had just undergone a neck surgery 3 weeks before the race, so decided to just go slow and see how far I can go. The support was so amazing that I continued and finished it!! I was looking forward to the treats at each mile. I had never seen so much food and snacks distributed as in this race!! There were pre race snacks before the start of the race. Great work, a race not to be missed!! | |
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M. L. from Austin, TX
(3/30/2013)
"Loud fans on a challenging course" (about: 2013)
2 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My first big-city marathon, and what a treat. The Stadium to Sea course is not only interesting and varied, but gives you some idea of accomplishment of covering distance rather than ending up right where you started. However, do not be misled by promises of a flat course. There are some hills here, especially early, and you'll work on the downhill sections too as they are fairly steep leaving the stadium. At the start line, officials did tightly police the corrals, which made for delays getting in place, but is HIGHLY appreciated. I have seen too much corral jumping at other races. From Corral B, I spent very little time threading through slower racers and settled into my rhythm early. The fans here were incredible, loudly cheering on runners, calling names from race bibs and leaving few sections uncovered. And the drummers near Mile 4...talk about pumped up; thanks for being there while I scaled that hill. The aid stations are very frequent and well-stocked. No problems getting nourishment. I do wish, however, the gel stops would be (1) earlier and (2) more plentiful. If I had 2 concerns, they involve the expo and gear check. The expo was a bit underwhelming, and set you back $12 to park. I've seen much better and energetic expos. And gear check...it was by number with 1-3999 grouped together, which included most Corral A & B runners. This meant that one gear check line was VERY long, with dozens of other lines non-existent. Maybe a way to spread divide those bags differently would be helpful. Overall, great tour of LA with some loud fans and cheer squads to push you along a course with early hills and a downhill finish. Nice! | |
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P. B. from Vandenberg AFB, CA
(3/28/2013)
"Wonderful destination race!" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was the most enjoyable marathon I have run! I enjoyed the point-to-point course, even though that comes with some logistical hassles. Being a tourist, I loved seeing lots of the city: stadium, downtown, Hollywood, etc. Hills were not bad at all. There was a near-constant presence of spectators, which I appreciated very much...lots of unofficial aid stations, which were great. Actual aid stations also great and plentiful. Loved the diversity of the city! Many, many runners, yet the day was pretty well organized. Only a couple of notes: most miles were marked by a large, inflatable banner. Nice! However, no marker at all at mile 13 OR the halfway point (foul). Also, when I look up my name in the results, it should tell me what place I got instead of requiring me to page through 75 pages of results in sequential order. C'mon, man! Overall, a great race! I highly recommend it...great course, great atmosphere (choppers overhead!), lots of fun! | |
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A. T. from Arlington, VA
(3/26/2013)
"Excellent race buoyed by spectators" (about: 2013)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran LA for the first time on St. Patrick's Day and I had an amazing experience. I think the course was nicea little desolate in downtown, but once you start going through Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica-you pretty much run by all there's to see in the Southland. I thought, however, the spectators were amazing. A lot of them were handing out snacks and treats to runners and to see that was just awesome. Having water stops every mile also was very helpful (I just alternated between water and the sports drink at every stop). If there was a downside, probably the expo (wasn't a fun of a lot of the booths) and the bag check (huge line for one group of bags for pickup after I was done-needed another PODS container I think). Overall well done and I would definitely consider running again! | |
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J. P. from Chico, CA
(3/25/2013)
"They finally got it right" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my third LA Marathon. The first was a very boring course around downtown (in 2006). When they changed the course in 2010, to the 'Stadium to the Sea', I tried it again. The course was great, but the organization left something to be desired. Now in it's fourth year with the Stadium to the Sea route, I decided to try it again. I was very happy with it. The Course was obviously great, the support was great, the fans along the course were great. At the end they had free massages, with about (I believe) 40 people giving them, so even with the huge number of runners, there wasn't a long wait. The only two things I would say need improvement are - 1) the post race food was very basic (but with 26,000 runnners I guess it's hard to get too elaborate). They had basic bananas, bagels, cookies, water; and 2) getting to the start could be improved. I had a route mapped to the start (avoiding closed streets), but they wouldn't even let me cross the intersection of route streets, even though it was more than a hour before the race. So I had to jump into the I5 traffic with everybody else. But other than that - Great race, which I would highly recommend. | |
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J. H. from Seattle
(3/24/2013)
"Another great race" (about: 2013)
2 previous marathons
| 2 City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)s
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Second LA Marathon in a row. My experience was even better this time: started from Corral B which meant only 12-second gun-chip differential. Crowd support was terrific again. Course was again awesome. Weather cooperated and did not get hot, and the cooling temp toward Santa Monica is always welcome. I honestly do not think there is any more iconic course than this in the U.S. (except Boston, which wins with history). Some criticisms: POSTER for this year was missing. Even just having a poster-for-purchase option at the expo would have been fine. Ultima Replenisher is a lifestyle drink, like Vitamin Water, and is NOT A SPORTS DRINK. A big race like this should have Gatorade, Powerade, real sports drinks. (I can't believe Ultima Replenisher is outsponsoring for the right to be the official drink of LA Marathon over Gatorade??) |
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