The following will make a lot more sense if you understand a few things about Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge.
The first is that he truly believes Los Angeles is the best city on the planet. The second is that "The Wizard of Oz" is his favorite movie.
So, imagine LaBonge's reaction over the summer when someone handed him the new route for the Los Angeles Marathon and LaBonge noticed that the course didn't visit many quarters of his beloved city.
At a subsequent meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LaBonge complained. The mayor told LaBonge to fix it.
His first attempt at redrawing the race course came up short -- literally -- at only 25 miles. Marathons need to be 26.2 miles.
So LaBonge went back to the drawing board. And that's where we begin.
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Did he succeed?
Yes. LaBonge's new route spends much less time in the environs of Hollywood and Los Feliz but now visits Boyle Heights.
As it turned out, that was the ingredient that LaBonge craved.
"All those runners are going to be crossing the 6th Street Bridge from Boyle Heights into downtown," LaBonge told me at last Wednesday's council meeting after his colleagues approved the route. "It's just like in 'The Wizard of Oz' when the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Dorothy and Toto are going down the Yellow Brick Road toward Emerald City."
But of course.
And LaBonge wouldn't hear any of it when I suggested to him that at that late stage of the marathon -- with only a couple miles to go -- most competitors will be more worried about controlling their bodily functions than taking in the view.
The city skyline, he insisted, would provide the inspiration the runners needed.
So, coming into work on Friday, I took a detour through Boyle Heights and drove across the bridge.
There were no flying monkeys, sadly, but it does offer a sweeping view of the downtown skyline -- behind a maze of utility wires. But Emerald City?
On the other hand, LaBonge is probably on to something. Thousands of runners pouring across the bridge will probably make for a photo so dandy that even the Mayor of Munchkinland would proudly hang it on his wall -- should LaBonge ever arrange for a meeting.
You can find the new route on the marathon's website: www.lamarathon.com/maps.118.0.html (The race is in March).
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How are the City Council and the city attorney getting along these days?
