El Maati Chaham

More than 40,000 fitness buffs and masochists took to the streets Sunday by way of feet, bicycles, wheelchairs and skates for the biggest Los Angeles Marathon in its 12-year history, but the festivities were marred when the first female runner to reach the finish line was stripped of her gold medal for allegedly taking a short cut. Russian runner Nadezhda Ilyina's explanation: She had to use the bathroom at a convenience store, forcing her to veer off the main route.

More than 40,000 fitness buffs and masochists took to the streets Sunday by way of feet, bicycles, wheelchairs and skates for the biggest Los Angeles Marathon in its 12-year history, but the festivities were marred when the first female runner to reach the finish line was stripped of her gold medal for allegedly taking a short cut. Russian runner Nadezhda Ilyina's explanation: She had to use the bathroom at a convenience store, forcing her to veer off the main route.

Men *--* 1986 Rick Sayre 2:12:59 1987 Art Boileau 2:13:08 1988 Martin Mondragon 2:10:19 1989 Art Boileau 2:13:01 1990 Pedro Ortiz 2:11:54 1991 Mark Plaatjes 2:10:29 1992 John Treacy 2:12:29 1993 Joselido Rocha 2:14:28 1994 Paul Pilkington 2:12:13 1995 Rolando Vera 2:11:39 1996 Jose Luis Molina 2:13:23 1997 El-Maati Chaham 2:14:16 1998 Zebedayo Bayo 2:11:21 1999 Simon Bor 2:09:25 2000 Benson Mbithi 2:11:55 *--* Women *--* 1986 Nancy Ditz 2:36:27 1987 Nancy Ditz 2:35:24 1988 Blanca Jaime 2:36:11

Los Angeles Marathon men's winners: 2007: Fred Mogaka, Kenya...2:17:14 2006: Benson Cherono, Kenya...2:08:40 2005: Mark Saina, Kenya...2:09:35 2004: David Kirui, Kenya...2:13:41 2003: Mark Yatich, Kenya...2:09:52 2002: Steven Ndungu, Kenya...2:10:27 2001: Steven Ndungu, Kenya...2:13:13 2000: Benson Mutiisya Mbithi, Kenya...2:11:55 1999: Simon Bor, Kenya...2:09:25 1998: Zebedayo Bayo, Tanzania...2:11:21 1997: El Maati Chaham, Morocco...2:14:16 1996: Jose Luis Molina, Costa Rica...

MEN *--* 1986 Ric Sayre 2:12:59 1987 Art Boileau 2:13:08 1988 Martin Mondragon 2:10:19 1989 Art Boileau 2:13:01 1990 Pedro Ortiz 2:11:54 1991 Mark Plaatjes 2:10:29 1992 John Treacy 2:12:29 1993 Joselido Rocha 2:14:28 1994 Paul Pilkington 2:12:13 1995 Rolando Vera 2:11:39 1996 Jose Luis Molina 2:13:23 1997 El-Maati Chaham 2:14:16 1998 Zebedayo Bayo 2:11:21 1999 Simon Bor 2:09:25 2000 Benson Mbithi 2:11:55 2001 Stephen Ndungu 2:13:13 *--* WOMEN *--* 1986 Nancy Ditz 2:36:27 1987 Nancy Ditz 2:35:24

* WHEN: Today, 8:45 a.m. * TV: Channel 13 (8 a.m.) * RADIO: KACD/KBCD-FM 103.1 (6 a.m.) * WHERE: Starts at 6th and Figueroa streets; finishes at 8th and Figueroa. * COURSE: 26 miles 385 yards winding through the streets of Los Angeles. * PRIZE MONEY: $15,000 and a car to winners of men's and women's divisions.

The Los Angeles Marathon, long disparaged in elite runners' circles for a carnival atmosphere not considered conducive to serious competition, will receive a boost today with the announcement of a new sponsor. Saucony, a 100-year-old athletic shoe and apparel company in Peabody, Mass., has signed on for five years, and the money from the deal will be plowed back into the marathon. Prize money for this year's race, March 29, will be doubled, to $150,000.

Nadezhda Ilyina won a 26-mile, 355-or-so-yard race in Los Angeles on Sunday. A few minutes later, Lornah Kiplagat learned she had won the 12th running of the Los Angeles Marathon. In a bizarre ending to a day of bizarrerie, Ilyina of Russia cut a corner in the race's 22nd mile, saved about 30 yards, but was cut out of the finishing field after being the apparent winner.

The first thing I heard when I turned the car radio to XTRA at 8:30 a.m. Sunday was a handicapper on Roger Stein's show discussing the possibility of a win for Sandpit in that afternoon's Santa Anita Handicap. "He can stay all day," the guy said. I hoped people would be as charitable when speaking of me after Sunday, a day on which I thought it would be a good idea to take in three of Southern California's marquee events--the L.A.

The rain stayed away Sunday. Instead, the wind showed up in its place and wreaked havoc with runners throughout the second half of the 16th Los Angeles Marathon. But by the time Stephen Ndungu outlasted a field of 21,072 and ran face first into the brutal headwind and tackled the rolling hills in Hollywood, the Kenyan already was beginning to open up an insurmountable lead.

*--* 2003 Div Time Name, Country Open M 2:9:52 Mark Yatich, Kenya W 2:29:40 Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Ukraine Masters 2:34:33 Eumergindo Boche-Saban, U.S M W 2:29:40 Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Ukraine Wheelchair M 1:27:07 Saul Mendoza, Mexico W 1:50:06 Cheri Blauwet, U.S 2002 Open M 2:10:27 Steven Ndungu, Kenya W 2:28:49 Lyubov Denisova, Russia Masters M 2:41:07 Jose Diaz, U.S W 2:30:26 Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Ukraine Wheelchair M 1:28:44 Ernest Van Dyk, S.