Los Angeles Marathon

Gianni Poli, Italy's top marathon runner, set a killer pace in Sunday's third running of the Los Angeles Marathon. Poli, a two-time winner of the New York Marathon, left the field of 17,040 participants in the dust as he quickly sprinted to the front. Was Poli crazy? "I run easier by myself," said Poli, who isn't usually a front-runner but established an early 18-second lead. "I prefer to run alone. Running in a pack is difficult for me."

If it weren't that almost everyone in Portugal had told her not to, Rosa Mota might never have run a marathon. But because they said she should avoid them, she did not. You see, in Portugal, marathons mean death. People reason that if Francisco Lazaro, who was 21 when he ran the Olympic marathon at Stockholm, then collapsed and died after the race, it was too dangerous to even contemplate. That was in 1912, but the memory lingers. Lazaro is a part of Portuguese folk history.

For elite runners, marathons mean money. Since most of the world's best racers can run only two or three marathons per year, these athletes carefully select the races they run so as to maximize their income. The Los Angeles Marathon is an interesting case in changing philosophy. In the first race in 1986, the men's and women's winners were paid $10,000 each. Race organizers recognized that for the race to grow, prize money would have to be increased.

At first glance, it was enough to make Bill Burke blanch. Disney was getting into the marathon business in Orange County, and that probably meant big money--the kind Burke, president of the Los Angeles Marathon, could not match. That could send elite runners, those who put marathons on the running map, to Orange County. So they talked and reached an accord of sorts. On Wednesday, the first Disneyland Marathon and 5K run will be announced.

The Los Angeles Marathon lost one of its major sponsors Tuesday, when John Hancock Financial Services announced it will not renew its five-year sponsorship agreement with the race, which expires after Sunday's race. The firm is one of six of the race's major sponsors, and its annual contribution is reportedly about $250,000. However, race President William Burke said he will announce at Sunday's race the name of a sponsor to take Hancock's place. At the same time Hancock is dropping the L.A.

Why do people run marathons? What hidden compulsion drives a person to travel 26.2 miles on foot? Some answers were provided by a recent survey of 309 runners entered in Sunday's seventh annual Los Angeles Marathon. The vast majority run for personal reasons, not for competitive ones, the survey found. More than 82% responded that the race was against themselves, 17% said it was a race against the clock and only 1% viewed the marathon as a race against others.

Raymond Derek, 61, of Hollywood, a recovering cancer patient, plans to compete in Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon using a modified walker. Derek has competed in the last two races, completing 13 miles in 1991 and 11 last year before he was forced off the course by street sweepers. "If I make 10 miles this year, I'll be lucky," Derek said. "I'm the only one with a walker in the race. I put wheels on it so I can shuffle along. I start with the wheelchairs, but they pass me by pretty quickly."

The recession and the Southland's tourism decline that some attribute to last year's civil unrest apparently haven't affected entries for Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon. Race director Bill Burke said entries haven't declined. "I'm dumbfounded about it," Burke said. "Every major marathon in America is down. Washington D.C., Columbus (Ohio) and San Diego were down this year. I expected us to be down because of the situation here in Los Angeles and the economy.

* 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 26.2-mile Los Angeles Marathon created a virtual chokehold on the city's side streets, sending frustrated drivers into a maze-like series of detours and jammed freeways. An estimated 400 streets were barricaded along the route, creating a ring around Downtown, Exposition Park and parts of Hollywood. Event organizers, anticipating a crush even worse than in years past because of earthquake damage to the Santa Monica Freeway, tried to post detour signs.