The LA Marathon takes place this weekend. The 26.2-mile “Stadium to the Sea” route, which begins at Dodger Stadium and ends at Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, enters Hollywood just before the 10-mile mark, at Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue. And that’s about as close as it gets to our area…
This is the third year that the Marathon has been run along this route. Personally, I miss having the marathon run down Rossmore or along 3rd Street. Although we were trapped from heading out in any direction from the area while the marathon was taking place, the community really seemed to enjoy the day and rallied for the participants, including neighborhood friends taking on the challenge.
I do believe that this route is more favorable for the runners – having run the LA Marathon myself, the thought of having the beach as the final destination would have been very motivating for me. The last 16 miles of each of the two marathons I ran were all about playing tricks with the mind – talking myself into going further. I ran the NY Marathon and it was easy to talk myself into the next 2-3 miles…I could just talk myself into making it into Brooklyn…and then Queens…and then Manhattan… It was just one huge mind game for me. I found it hard to do that when I ran the LA Marathon on the old route.
Who knows – maybe this route will motivate me to run a third?
I don’t think so…
It will be difficult to get to some areas Sunday morning…we suggest you check out the route and view an overview of street closures.
LA Marathon – Street Closures …and more Street Closures
BTW – no Acura Bike Tour anymore…the marathon organizers dropped that when they moved to this new course.