Frank McCourt's company will operate L.A. Marathon
MARATHON
Dodgers owner created Going The Distance to oversee the race, which will be run on Presidents Day beginning in 2009.
A City Council committee on Wednesday approved Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's bid to acquire operating rights to the Los Angeles Marathon from its current, Chicago-based owner.
The deal, which would shift the race from being an annual Sunday event to one held on a Monday, Presidents Day, is expected to win full council approval Friday.
Though financial details were not disclosed, the deal would include $537,391 to reimburse the city for money it is owed by the current race operator to cover costs generated by the past three races. Going The Distance, McCourt's newly created race operating company, also would be required to reimburse the city for future race-related costs.
L.A. Marathon: An article about the Los Angeles Marathon in Thursday's Sports section incorrectly listed the proposed date for the next race as Feb. 19, 2009. The correct date is Feb. 16, 2009.
The shift to a Monday -- next year, the 24th running of the marathon would move from March 1 to Feb. 19 -- will upset some runners who've grown accustomed to it being on a Sunday but probably please religious leaders who have complained over the years that the race route kept many people from attending services.
The change also will disrupt planning already underway at some of the 50 "official" L.A. Marathon charities that use the event to raise funds. But John Heathcliff, a spokesman for the official race charities, said that the nonprofits "have pledged to do everything that we can to make this a success."
Ross Pillar, one of two local businessmen who would operate the race for McCourt, said that Going The Distance would not assume outstanding financial obligations amassed by Devine Racing Management, the financially troubled company that has operated the race since 2004.
Devine Racing owner Chris Devine did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on whether proceeds from the sale would be pledged to making his company's creditors whole.
The deal also marks the end of an era in that longtime L.A. Marathon operators Bill Burke and Marie Patrick no longer would have an equity or management stake. Burke said that the deal was "another step in the process of me separating from the race."
Burke said that he remains associated with the Devine Racing Management marathon in Las Vegas.
City Council members who approved the proposed agreement during a short committee meeting at City Hall spoke enthusiastically about McCourt's financial support for the race, which has remained in the shadow of such better-known races in Chicago, New York, Boston and London.
