Frank McCourt takes over Los Angeles Marathon
His company plans to move the race from the first Sunday in March to the Monday President's Day holiday in February.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt completed a deal this morning to acquire operating rights to the Los Angeles Marathon, ending an often-troubled chapter of the annual race that is scheduled to run its 24th edition in February.
Financial terms of the transaction were not released, but McCourt's newly created Going The Distance operating company has begun the process of taking over registration and race preparations for the upcoming marathon. Negotiations with Chicago-based Devine Racing Management were completed a week after the City Council approved a new contract with McCourt's company that calls for, among other things, shifting the race date from the first Sunday in March to the Monday President's Day holiday in February.
McCourt spokesman Howard Sunkin said Going the Distance would be overseen by Los Angeles businessmen Russ Pillar and David Kingsdale. It will take a bit of time, Sunkin acknowledged, for the new management team to sort out race details.
"Our best advice right now is to be patient," Sunkin said during a telephone interview. "We are going to hit the ground running, and changes will be made as immediately as possible, as soon as we can get hands on the infrastructure.
"The transaction closed this morning, the wire transfers have occurred and, in terms of the [city-owned] intellectual property, we have taken control of that. We want the entire running community to be participating in this marathon."
Word of the sale is likely to resonate in the running community -- though some runners undoubtedly will be upset by the change to a Monday in February. It also will be of interest to business owners, top runners and others who have not been paid by Devine Racing Management for services rendered during past races.
Chris Devine, the race's former owner, said Thursday during a telephone interview that "a lot of the obligations are getting paid today by direct wire transfers. Then we'll make the appropriate telephone calls to talk to other vendors to get them what's outstanding."
Sunkin said that "the obligations clearly rest with Mr. Devine, but we have the utmost assurances that all of the outstanding obligations will be resolved."
When asked if the new race operator will have sufficient capital to ensure that races operate smoothly and vendors are paid promptly, Sunkin said, "We want to make it crystal clear that this race will be run with the utmost amount of dignity, respect and resources. This is a civic asset that belongs to the city of Los Angeles, and we will take it to the level that the city of Los Angeles deserves."
It was uncertain this morning whether KNBC, which traditionally has broadcast the Sunday race, would continue to carry the race after it shifts to Monday. Sunkin said that the new management team hopes that both KNBC and Honda, the race's major sponsor, will return.
greg.johnson@latimes.com
