Long Beach Marathon

Running route--Spectators for the ninth annual running of the Long Beach Marathon today can find places along route marked in bold. Longest straight stretches are on Ocean Boulevard. Start-finish line is at Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, 300 Ocean Blvd. It begins at 7:25 a.m.

Funeral services for a recent newlywed and former USC graduate student were held Wednesday in Westwood after the 33-year-old man died after competing as a contestant on ABC's reality show "Wipeout." Tom Sparks appears to have died of a stroke after trying to complete an obstacle course stunt for the reality competition show, according to preliminary medical findings. The recent graduate of the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism initially complained of knee pain and was experiencing shortness of breath during the event.

The Long Beach Marathon will be run Sunday amid predictions of potential record-setting performances from an international field that includes a dozen runners whose best marathon times are faster than those of last year's winner. "This could be the fastest race Long Beach has ever seen," said Long Beach Marathon race director John Goldman. "This year's time on the men's side is anywhere from eight to 10 minutes faster than last year."

"Ouch!" "Oooh!" "Oww!" "Omigod, that hurts!" Those grunts of pain and anguish weren't coming from us -- a group of 10 people running barefoot on a concrete pathway at Central Park in Huntington Beach early one recent Saturday morning. They were being emitted by a grimacing group of shoe-wearing, dog-walking women who were staring at us as we passed. But surprisingly, it didn't hurt to run in bare feet. In fact, it felt great. Every step of our 30-minute barefoot run was pure pleasure -- far more natural and comfortable than a run in shoes.

More than 3,000 runners, including teams from China and South Korea, are expected to start in the seventh annual Long Beach Marathon this morning at the Long Beach Convention Center. A race within the race will be for the Pacific Rim marathon championship, with 20 athletes competing from China, Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. That race will have the fastest man in the field, Wu Zhihan of China, who has run 2 hours 13 minutes 49 seconds.

Nearly 3,000 runners are expected to compete in today's Long Beach Marathon, which begins at 7:30 a.m. in front of the Long Beach Convention Center and finishes under the pedestrian bridge on Seaside Way. The race has not attracted world-class runners but includes several excellent local athletes.

An estimated 18,000 runners turned out Sunday for the 22nd Long Beach Marathon, which raises money for two dozen charities. "It's going like crazy, and it's perfect running weather, nice and cool," said John Parks, an event spokesman. "Our marathon is on a very flat and fast course; we think it's extremely scenic." Organizers said they expected to raise about $1 million, 25% more than last year. "Runners love it when it's a little cooler," Parks said. "This has worked out just perfect."

Ric Sayre, who ran most of a marathon two weeks ago, managed to finish one Sunday. He pulled away from a small pack of runners that had been hounding him and won the Long Beach Marathon in 2 hours 13 minutes 22 seconds. The 32-year-old Sayre set a course record and won $1,000 in a race through the streets of Long Beach that drew 2,995 runners. Sayre battled with Brad Hawthorne and Ron Cornell for most of the race before pulling away after 16 miles.

Jose Ramirez won the 13th Long Beach marathon Sunday in 2 hours 17 minutes 25 seconds, and Kathy Bowman won the women's division in 2:46:32. Each won $5,000. It was the first marathon victory in the United States for Ramirez, 30, of Mexico. Stefan Klausler, 31, of Switzerland overtook Sam Rotich with less than two miles to go and finished second in 2:25:49. Rotich, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., finished 59 seconds later to place third after finishing second the past two years.

Olga Appell of Mexico, running with the strongest incentive known to amateur athletes--a chance to make an Olympic team--emphatically won Sunday's 11th annual Long Beach Marathon in a time of 2 hours 30 minutes 43 seconds. Appell, who trains in Albuquerque, N.M., beat former teammate Maria Trujillo, who ran 2:35:40, and Maureen Custy-Roben, third in 2:41:54.

An estimated 18,000 runners turned out Sunday for the 22nd Long Beach Marathon, which raises money for two dozen charities. "It's going like crazy, and it's perfect running weather, nice and cool," said John Parks, an event spokesman. "Our marathon is on a very flat and fast course; we think it's extremely scenic." Organizers said they expected to raise about $1 million, 25% more than last year. "Runners love it when it's a little cooler," Parks said. "This has worked out just perfect."

The Los Angeles Marathon has taken a major turn. For the first time in its 18-year history, it will be televised by a major network station -- KNBC Channel 4. The station will devote four hours to Sunday's race, with coverage beginning at 8 a.m. In another first, the race will also be televised in Spanish -- by Channel 4's sister station, Telemundo's Channel 52. The race seemed destined to someday end up at Channel 4. It was a natural fit.

David Dugan drove his 49-year-old mother to the inaugural Los Angeles Marathon 15 years ago, wished her well as he dropped her off at the starting line, then headed for the finish line. He wasn't prepared for what he saw 4 1/2 hours later. Haggard, unsteady and semi-delirious, Mary Dugan stoically crossed the finish line, but struggled back to the car on legs so cramped she could barely bend them. "She looked like a boxer coming out of a fight," David Dugan said.

Genilson Junior Da Silva showed enough heart to win the Long Beach Marathon Sunday. His stomach, however, wasn't up to it. That left it for James Bungei of Kenya to take control, coming from 150 yards behind at mile 17 to pull away from countryman John Kiposkei and Pio Mpolokeng of South Africa and win in 2 hours 16 minutes 49 seconds. Da Silva led the 26.2-mile race early but stopped and clutched his stomach after 15 miles because of symptoms of food poisoning.

The Long Beach Marathon will be run Sunday amid predictions of potential record-setting performances from an international field that includes a dozen runners whose best marathon times are faster than those of last year's winner. "This could be the fastest race Long Beach has ever seen," said Long Beach Marathon race director John Goldman. "This year's time on the men's side is anywhere from eight to 10 minutes faster than last year."

Mary Murphy, an 82-year-old great-grandmother from Los Alamitos, will attempt to make a hydrofoil water-skiing trip from Long Beach to Catalina and back Friday--a feat that sounds amazing until you hear she has already done it twice since turning 80. Murphy has been an endurance water skier almost since taking up the sport in 1957 when she was 39. Her hour-long sessions on slalom skis were legendary among friends and family.

Brenda Enderle just wanted to make some new friends. Darlene Mota was hoping to make up for lost time. Their goals varied as much as the climates they left behind, but Enderle and Mota found a common thread after moving to Orange County last spring. They joined the South Coast Roadrunners, an Irvine-based running club that quickly put a spark back in their running careers.

The way Ken Saxton sees it, everybody else is missing something. Saxton, a 44-year-old Huntington Beach resident, took off his shoes for good this year, opting to bare his soles at work, weddings, restaurants, jury duty . . . and the Pacific Shoreline Marathon Sunday in Huntington Beach. "You don't insulate yourself from the earth," Saxton explained. "Even in the Bible, Jesus told his apostles to go without shoes. God wouldn't let people approach him unless they took their shoes off.