Marathons

My name is Offset--Lou Offset. I appear here about this time each year to counter claims that marathon runs are good for (a) the runners and (b) the community. Marathons aren't good for either, or my name isn't Lou Offset. On March 3, in this earthly paradise, soiled only by earthquakes, brush fires, polluted air, gridlock and gang shootings, they are getting ready to stage Los Angeles Marathon VI, which will feature roughly 20,000 individuals romping through the city's thoroughfares.

Try to think of Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon less as a "happening," which it surely is; or a world-class athletic event, which it may become but is not now. Look at it more as a moving advertising opportunity, human billboards running 26.2 miles through the city on live television. With that kind of exposure to a potential 12 million Southern Californians, it's no wonder that in only five years the L. A.

Two marathons have been added to the Southern California schedule, one originating in Newport Beach and another that will start in Malibu. Both take place Dec. 5. The Orange County Marathon begins at the Fashion Island mall and winds its way through Irvine before returning to Newport Beach. Organizers hope to draw 10,000 runners. The race will benefit several children's charities.

About 150 U.S. soldiers ran 26.2 carefully checked miles around Bagram air base, Afghanistan, in a Minefield Marathon. The winner, 2nd Lt. Raymond Youngs, 25, said: "It was a great way to relax and do something normal. Of course, nothing you end up doing around here is really that normal." The course passed shredded jets, mines and other explosives. Sentries and helicopters watched for trouble.

The Santa Clarita Marathon begins at 7 a.m. today on Soledad Canyon Road at Lang Station Road, east of Shadow Pines Boulevard. There will be no road closures and traffic can use all roads except the following: 1) Eastbound lane on Soledad Canyon Road between Shadow Pines and Sierra Highway from 5 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. 2) Southbound lane on Sierra Highway between Soledad Canyon Road and Via Princessa from 7:25 a.m. to 8:10 a.m.

Admirers of author Jack Kerouac celebrated the 50th anniversary of "On the Road" with a marathon reading of the novel. Fans and some close friends of the late author took turns reading his most famous novel aloud at Naropa University in Boulder. About 150 people listened to the cover-to-cover reading, which took 12 hours and kicked off the university's inaugural Kerouac Festival.

A Kenyan marathon runner was fatally shot with an arrow, the second international athlete to die as Kenya struggles with postelection chaos, a sports official and fellow athlete said. Wesly Ngetich, 34, won the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., in 2005 and 2007. David Okeyo, head of Athletics Kenya, the governing body for Kenyan sports, confirmed Ngetich's death. A fellow athlete said Ngetich was caught in crossfire between two ethnic groups. Former Olympic runner Lucas Sang was killed in western Kenya during postelection violence.

While Lt. Guy Zanti's wife and father run a marathon today in Washington, the naval officer intends to match their efforts on the battleship Wisconsin in the waters of the Middle East. Zanti became interested in marathon running in April when he watched his 53-year-old father run his first marathon in California. Zanti told his father that even if he couldn't make it to today's Marine Corps Marathon, he would still run the 26.2 miles.

Paula Radcliffe ran the fastest marathon ever by a woman Sunday in only her second effort at the grueling distance. The 28-year-old British runner's victory in a chilly, windy Chicago Marathon in 2 hours 17 minutes 18 seconds was 89 seconds faster than the previous world record set by Catherine Ndereba of Kenya in the same race last year. "It's rounded off a brilliant year for me," Radcliffe said.

For 10 years, 69-year-old Ed Rasky has used his legs to raise money for children with cancer, soliciting pledges from friends and former colleagues while training to run in the Los Angeles Marathon. The retired high school English teacher pulls himself out of bed six mornings a week to jog his routine eight-mile route through the sleepy streets of West Hills. He has raised an average of $5,000 a year for Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times.