I left my house at just before 6 am to head over to Dodger Stadium for my morning race expo volunteer shift. The Santa Ana winds were really blowing! There was actually tumbleweeds blowing across the freeway as I neared downtown LA. I arrived at about 6:30 am. As per the instructions, I entered via Sunset Gate and went to the very right gate to show them that I was a volunteer. The attendant opened the gate for me. However, it was completed jammed up for cars heading over to lot F. I decided to bail out and head in the other direction. They had people stationed there that were directing everyone to park in lot 10. One of them saw my parking pass and was trying to send me back where I came from. I told that this was good enough. I parked and walked over to the volunteer check-in tent. The wind gusts were quite strong during the walk over. After signing in, I got some snacks and a bottle of water. I found an empty seat where I ate some snacks and waited for the volunteer leader to come get us.
Volunteer shirt
Back of volunteer shirt
Snacks and water for volunteers
I love dogs!
The person that we got this year was not very good and thought her jokes were funny. Thank goodness the bib assignment process remained the same as she fumbled through the instructions as if this was her first time to take the lead. I ended up being paired with a guy named, Miguel. He was a pretty cool guy. I opted to go with the old iPad again and let him use the Chromebook with a handheld scanner. When the 5k runners started finishing their race, people started coming over to pick up their bibs. The official start of the race expo was at 10 am. It was at first a trickle, but eventually, it was just nonstop action. However, it didn't seem as bad as the past couple of years. They had allotted more spots for participants in the open corral. We were finally relieved to take our lunch break at about 12:30 pm.
Instructions
Open corral
Seeded corrals
Fellow volunteer, Miguel
Robert!
Big dog!
Volunteer lunch
After I was done eating, I said goodbye to my volunteer buddies, and then went back to the bib pickup area to pick up my own. I went over to the tent for the seeded corral to get a bib for the C corral. The volunteer put a LA/SF Challenge sticker on it. I was given a LA Loyal sticker and pin. I then walked across the way to the LA Loyal tent where I was given a cap for reaching a 5 year streak as well as another LA Loyal pin. Next, I picked up my race shirt and gear bag from my volunteer friend, Sergio.
Picking up my LA Loyal items
LA Loyal items
Picking up my race shirt
Sergio
Race shirt
After picking up my shirt, I then headed into the race expo to check out the official merchandise, the participants name wall, as well as all of the vendor booths. It was a bit crowded and I was kind of tired so I was zipping through everything. If there was a long line, I skipped it. I really don't need any more free crap.
Race expo
Participants name wall
Found my name
Free samples
Exit
Flyers on my car
Sunday 3/8
Per the usual, I waffled between several parking options:
- Park at Dodger Stadium for free, then find my way back after the race.
- Park at Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station, then catch a free bus ride to Dodger Stadium at Union Station. One way fare is $1.75 with $5 cap per day.
- Park at Union Station East Garage for $8 and catch a free bus ride to Dodger Stadium.
- Park at Westfield Century City for $35.
Parked at Westfield Century City
Preview of the finish line
Bus pick-up on Olympic Blvd
We were dropped off at the Dodger Stadium parking lot at about 4:30 am. I made a beeline for the food tent. I knew from prior years that I needed to get stuff here first before it had gotten too busy! I grabbed a banana, one of the Precision Fuel gels, and a couple of Electrolit bottles to fill up my handheld bottle.
Pre-race food
I ate the banana on my way over to Dodger Stadium. As I was entering, the lady there informed me that we were only allowed on the concourse. We were not allowed in the seats. Boy, she was not kidding, as there was stadium staff there with their flashlights making sure that people did not sit in those seats or even get close to them!
Hanging out inside Dodger Stadium
After using the restroom, I found a vacant spot nearby to wait. I ended up chatting with a guy wearing a cowboy hat as he had really good energy. He sounded quite fired up to run a marathon. His name was Victor. Slowly but surely, my friends started showing up. I made sure to take selfies with them as I was getting to the point where I wasn't too sure how long I would still be running these marathons!
Ted
Dexter and Mitch
Willie
At about 6 am, I went to use the restroom one last time before I started heading out. I wished everyone a good race and headed over to the gear trucks to check my gear bag. I then started heading over to corral C. The corral was pretty empty, so I headed back out and tried to see if I could say hi to my friend who was one of the race announcers. No luck with that as the start of the race quickly approached! I then went over to corral B to wait for my friend, Robert. He was running really late and the corrals were about to close, so I headed into my corral to wait for the start of the race.
Corral C
Andrea on race announcer duties
Sally heading into corral B
Waiting in the corral for my friend
Here we go!
I crossed the start line at 7:01 am. Per the usual, I stayed on the right side, so I could say hi to my friend, Andrea. Fortunately, my friend Robert was able to make it into the corral. He just wasn't able to make his way all the way up to me. He had to wait until the race started and people started moving. Since the weather was going to be quite warm, I tried to keep us on pace to finish in just under 5 hours. It felt warm from the get-go! We skipped the chili dog station at about mile 5.5. One of these days, I'll be brave enough to eat one! It was pretty cool that we got to run on the red carpet as we reached Hollywood and Highland. The people of LA always bring out good energy, so we ended up covering that first half a bit too fast in about 2:12.
On Hollywood Blvd with Almi at about mile 9
At about mile 16, I really had to make a portapotty stop. My bladder had already stretched a few times and it felt like I was ready to explode. Fortunately, there was barely a wait for me to use one. I was able to empty the bladder, catch up to my friend, and resume our jog-a-thon. Unfortunately, shortly after running through Rodeo Dr and reaching mile 17, I started to struggle. I tried to rally a bit as we turned onto Santa Monica Blvd. It was good to see that no one around us took the 18 mile bailout. Unfortunately for me, the leg cramps would eventually creep in just as we reached mile 20 at Sepulveda Blvd. I knew that the turnaround point would be just after mile 22 at Bundy Dr. I did everything that I could to try and get the legs to loosen up. The last 4 miles to the finish line were an absolute grind! We were both pretty much on a mission to get as many of those ice pops that spectators were handing out!
Running down Rodeo Dr at mile 17
Michael Schwartz passing out strawberries
Sabrina caught up to us!
Dr Robert also caught us!
Lea caught us!
We caught Jesse!
Finish: 5:06:40
Click here for my Garmin data.
With today's race, I had completed 21 out of the last 23 Los Angeles Marathons since I started running it back in 2004. With the exception of a few outliers, my finishing times at this event had been rather mediocre. My usual finishing time as of late was just under 5:10. This year was a bit more challenging with the unseasonably hot weather and the time change. I will do my best next year to start finishing in under 5 hours which I've only done 3 times at this event!
- 2025: 5:07:02 coming off of a cold
- 2024: 4:52:28 last time I finished in under 5 hrs was 10 years ago!
- 2023: 6:12:11 out of shape
- 2022: 5:06:39 ran as Russell
- 2021: Did not run as I had already committed to run OC Half; new finish line in Century City
- 2020: 5:08:21 right before the infamous COVID shutdown
- 2019: 5:09:53
- 2018: 5:03:36 ran as Batman
- 2017: 5:08:56 ran for Team WorldVision; 1st year of sobriety
- 2016: 5:42:11 pub crawled as CM Punk
- 2015: 5:18:48 pub crawled as Batman and Robin
- 2014: 4:42:24 busted up my nose prior to the race
- 2013: 5:22:35 pub crawled as Superman; first marathon double
- 2012: 5:34:03 pub crawled as Superman and Wonder Woman
- 2011: Did not run; infamous deluge year; ran NYC Half instead
- 2010: 5:18:07 1st year of the Stadium to the Sea course
- 2009: 4:24:24 McCourt took over; return of DTLA loop course
- 2008: 5:24:25
- 2007: 6:07:08 new point to point course from Universal to DTLA
- 2006: 7:05:06
- 2005: 7:01:34
- 2004: 7:35:37 2nd marathon; temps in the 90s; PW for a non-trail race
Finisher medal
SF/LA Challenge medal
Post race goodies
Laura and Cindy
David
Kim
Brother Jack
Cherry
Just as with prior years, it was a pain in the ass to get out of the finisher area. Friends and family were blocking the exit point. However, this year, security was doing a better job at pushing them back to give us room to exit. After parting ways with my friend, I went back to my car to drop off my stuff and changed into a clean shirt before going back out to get something to eat. I ended up chatting with a couple that was just tailgating in the parking garage. They were pretty cool non-runners just chilling and waiting for their runner to finish. First, I went upstairs as they were doing free medal engraving near the Levi's Store. From up there, you can see the beer garden down at the Atrium. Originally, I had booked a 2:45 pm reservation at the True Food Kitchen. While I was in the queue to get my medal engraved, I received a voicemail saying that my reservation was cancelled as they had a private Asics event. Unlike prior years, the line for medal engraving went quickly.
Medal engraving line
Medal engraved
Post race beer garden
Once that was done, I swung by True Food Kitchen to see if I could still order something to-go. I ended up chatting briefly with the person that left me the message. They said that they were already closed and preparing for that private party. No problem. I'll try again next time. I then went to my backup place, Tender Greens. Per the usual, I placed my order on the mobile app and waited for my food. My order was for a grilled steak plate with baby arugula and seasonal vegetables. I ordered their mint lemonade as well. I was planning to find a spot in the food hall to eat my food, but I ended up just eating it there. The only seats open were the ones outside. Oof, the sun was quite powerful! No wonder those were the only open spots! I found it interesting that they put the mint lemonade inside 2 tubs that I've seen used for soup.
Grilled steak plate with baby arugula and seasonal vegetables, mint lemonade
After I finished my food, I used the restroom before heading back to my car. I knew that it would take a while for me to exit the parking garage. It ended up taking just about an hour to exit! Hard to believe, but that was actually an improvement! I made sure not to prepay for parking before heading back to my car. Just as I was coming up to the gate, I scanned the QR code on the ticket and paid with GooglePay. There were the usual pockets of heavy traffic on the drive home otherwise, it wasn't too bad.
