The reaction among distance runners to Monday's announcement that the Los Angeles Marathon date is being shifted to Memorial Day beginning next year was fast and, in many cases, furious.
Many runners echoed the concerns of Lou Briones, 60, of Los Angeles. He is one of 248 runners who have competed in each of the 23 previous races that were run on Sundays in early March, earning the nickname "Legacy Lou."
"It's a huge blow to me personally, and, I think, to a lot of other people who plan their marathons and triathlons a year in advance," Briones said. "Sure, being a 'legacy runner' is important to me and a lot of other runners. But the race begins to lose its luster when they do something like this.
"I can't do it all, so I'm going to have to really look at this change very carefully."
Briones was preparing an e-mail to other legacy runners to gather feedback about the new race date, which falls on May 25 next year.
"I don't want to run a marathon simply to maintain a legacy," Briones said.
Rumors have been circulating for weeks among those interested in the L.A. Marathon about a possible date change.
Many runners already were upset because, in September, LA Marathon LLC, which has acquired rights to operate the marathon, agreed to a city demand that the race be moved from its traditional Sunday in early March date to the Monday Presidents' Day holiday that will fall on Feb. 16 next year.
That calendar change was designed to address complaints from religious leaders, who blamed race-day road closures and traffic congestion for making it difficult for their congregations to get to church. Several ministers attended a City Council meeting in September when the issue was discussed and applauded the decision to switch to a Monday race.
When LA Marathon LLC President Russ Pillar discussed the latest new race date during a Monday morning telephone interview, he said the goal was to create the best possible race for runners, the thousands of race-day volunteers, charities that use the race for fundraising and his company's corporate partners.
After studying the Presidents' Day date, Pillar said, it quickly became apparent that many people wouldn't be able to run or volunteer because a relatively high number of employers don't observe the holiday. At that point, LA Marathon LLC, which is funded by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, began studying other options.
