Marathon

As a first time marathoner, I was overwhelmed at the incredible number of volunteers who made the first L.A. Marathon such a success. Even more impressive than their sheer numbers was their enthusiasm, compassion and encouragement. Thank you all for making it a wonderful experience. See you next year. JOHN GALBRAITH Venice

It happened first to Kara Goucher. While standing in the mixed-zone area to talk with media about her disappointing 10th-place finish in today's world track championships marathon, Goucher suddenly felt so weak, she slowly lowered herself to the ground before being led to a nearby medical tent. It happened next to Tera Moody. Moody, disappointed in her 28th-place run, was talking about fueling problems when her voice went raspy from shortness of breath. She collapsed in panic from an exercise-induced asthma attack and was carried to the medical tent.

- Meb Keflezighi had a premonition before Sunday's Olympic marathon. "I told my wife, 'I have a feeling I'm going to finish fourth,' " he said. As Olympic premonitions go, that's not a good one because the prize for fourth place is the same as the one for last. But it was an accurate one, with the former UCLA All-American passing five runners over the final 12 kilometers to finish in 2 hours 11 minutes 6 seconds, more than three minutes behind the winner, Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda.

FRANK ULRICH , 35, nursing student, Burbank What's your motivation ? I was with a friend in Little Tokyo last summer, and she was talking about how we should do the L.A. Marathon. She mentioned how there was a new course this year, and that definitely made it sound good. Then I paid the non-refundable fee, and she said, ‘Oh, I don't think I can do it.' She got so busy, she never got around to training. I was left with this non-refundable fee, and I thought, I've still got to do it...

Everybody involved in organizing the L.A. Marathon should be congratulated. This was my first marathon and if all marathons are as much fun and well organized as yours, this could become a habit. Thank you to all the volunteers and spectators along the course who made the run so much easier. See you next year. RICK KANE Gardena

While organizers did many things well on the 17th annual L.A. Marathon, March 3, one tragic misstep was their unconscionable miscount of winner's medals. All finishers are promised a medal, but this year's organizers ran out of medals with hundreds (possibly thousands?) of runners still coming in. After contending with a newly designed course featuring a dangerously narrow start in which several runners went down, then conquering the heartbreak hills ascending the last miles, finishers in the middle and back of the pack were treated to the words, "You'll get your medal in a few weeks.

Two UCLA runners were among the top three finishers in the men's division of Thursday morning's Coronado Half Marathon. Bruin Rich Brownsberger, an El Cajon native, finished in first place with a time of 1:05.07. UCLA teammate Jerry Marsh of San Diego came in third at 1:05.56. Second place went to Ed Mendoza, who registered a time of 1:05.06. Mendoza won the half marathon in 1982 and 1983. Oonaugh Bruni, of Encinitas, captured the women's division in 1:19.56. Lorrie Dierdorff was second at 1:20.

To those who say the L.A. Marathon's costs are not worth the end product (March 2) or to those who complain of the inconvenience of having several miles of blocked streets, I say run in the race, be a volunteer or go watch these intrepid athletes as they challenge themselves to the finish line. Once you see how much support and community spirit are generated as family, friends and neighbors cheer each athlete on and wonder at their achievements, you will understand that putting a price tag on this event misses the point.

I am writing about the "winner" of the L.A. Marathon (March 8). It's always nice to see the spread of political correctness, especially in the sports world. The "first-place finisher," a woman, was spotted only 20 minutes and 30 seconds and managed to squeak a three-minute-plus "win" over the first-place male runner. Perhaps next year, the leading men marathoners will be required to run with small rocks in their shoes (just one foot) or have to walk a mile for every five or so they run -- anything to slow them down and make the race "fair."

When you run for four hours straight, you have a lot of time to think -- and not just about your aching thigh muscles, your sore feet and the way the mile markers seem to be getting farther and farther apart. While running the L.A. Marathon last month for the seventh time, I had to wonder -- again -- why organizers have mapped out a course so visually deadening when we live in a city filled with iconic sights. I kept thinking about first-time visitors to Los Angeles who were running next to me. What were their impressions as they ran mostly through neighborhoods and business districts that could have been anywhere, with nondescript houses, convenience stores, strip malls, office buildings, chain-link fences and car lots?