L.A. Marathon changes race date again - to Memorial Day
The race's new operators, under a City Council mandate, had planned to stage the 2009 marathon on Presidents Day. But now they are moving it to May 25 because of traffic and scheduling concerns.
The new operators of the Los Angeles Marathon confirmed today that they are moving the annual race to Memorial Day, marking the second calendar change since September for the race, which for 23 years had been run on a Sunday in early March.
LA Marathon LLC, the race operations company funded by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, in September satisfied a city demand that the race move to a Monday holiday by scheduling the 2009 for Feb. 16, Presidents Day holiday.
But Russ Pillar, the operating company's president, said that was a problem, largely because so many Southern Californians work on Presidents Day. So, rather than deal with traffic issues and scheduling conflicts for runners, volunteers, charities and the race's corporate sponsor and broadcast television partner, the decision was made to run the 24th edition on Memorial Day, which falls on May 25 next year.
"We think the Memorial Day date does two things," Pillar said this morning during a telephone interview with The Times. "It lets us honor the city's wishes that we have the race on a holiday Monday, and it lets us create a better runner's experience than we could have on Presidents Day.
"We've spent a lot of time talking to all of our constituencies -- runners, charities, volunteers -- and while there's never a good time to be changing race dates, the fact is that this will give us enough time to put on a great event."
But Memorial Day comes relatively late in the marathon season, causing concern among some runners whose training regimes have been tailored to the late-February-to-early-March window.
"You can't maintain peak training for that long," said Bill Lockton, president of L.A. Leggers, a club of 1,300 local runners. "The other problem is that Memorial Day is a big family day. People are going on vacations, having barbecues."
Lockton also worries that heat could become a problem that late in the running year, particularly among less-experienced runners.
Los Angeles resident Henry LeBlanc, who has run the marathon in recent years with his girlfriend, echoed concerns about training.
"We're already up to 12 or 13 miles and we're shooting for the February date," LeBlanc said. "But if it goes to Memorial Day, it's going to be very difficult to continue training for another three months."
The new date also could cause scheduling problems for athletes who compete in several marathons each year. The Memorial Day date, for example, bumps up against the popular San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, which will be staged a week later.
