25,000 run, walk and roll in L.A. Marathon
Participants range from serious runners to the not so serious, such as the Shread Like Slash team. SWAT officers join to honor Simmons.
More than 25,000 participants took off from near Universal Studios early this morning in the 23rd annual Los Angeles Marathon. Some hoped to take away a $120,000 grand prize; others hoped just to finish.
Wheelchair racers, bike riders, walkers, joggers and more serious runners enjoyed more than 26 miles of streets closed to traffic.
"I do it for the challenge of it, just to see if I can actually finish," said 47-year-old Lynda Arnold of Las Vegas. She was at the race with her running partner, her brother Ed. The pair usually run about two marathons a year.
"Our goal is to keep fit. It forces us to train," Ed Arnold said about an hour before this morning's 8:15 a.m. starting gun.
Saul Mendoza was the first winner of the day when he captured his seventh L.A. Marathon wheelchair race with a time of 1:31:11.
Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge hailed the marathon as the "legacy" of the 1984 Olympic Games and said it was groundbreaking that this year's route went through East Los Angeles and deep into Boyle Heights.
"Now Los Angeles has become the world, and all its diversity is participating in the marathon," LaBonge said. "It's a great civic event, not just an athletic event."
Although the marathon is an individual event, many participants are part of a team.
"I'm here to run, walk and rock!" said 28-year-old Jesse Armstrong, who was part of the Gibson guitar team Shread Like Slash.
Armstrong, who said he'd never been part of a marathon but was paid $75 to show up this morning, was smoking a cigarette, wearing an old leather jacket and ripped blue jeans.
"I've never done this running thing," Armstrong said.
On a more serious note, a group of about 30 SWAT officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were running as part of a memorial dedicated to Officer Randal Simmons, who died in the line of duty last month.
"In life Randy affected many lives, and even here in death he's still carrying on," said LAPD Chief William Bratton. "We're here today to continue on in that memory."
Some of the officers will be running the race as a relay, carrying a torch that will switch hands every three miles until it is finally passed to Simmons' son, Matthew, who will take the torch from mile 25 to the finish line.
