LOS ANGELES — Just five months after its last event, the Los Angeles Marathon, presented by ASICS, expects a jump of about 7,000 runners for the two days of runs starting Saturday.
Organizers have seen increases in attendance over the last fifteen years, with bumps in the road after the Boston Marathon bombing and the cancellation of the New York City Marathon.
But over the years, the marathon, run by the McCourt Foundation, has steadily consolidated and emphasized the qualities that make it unique.
It’s a strategy common to marathons, which sell out of state or even nearby runners on the attractions of the area. Other cities benefit from rich histories and legendary runners with sayings immortalized under their names. Notably, Bill Rodgers, who won the Boston Marathon four times, including three straight, was once quoted saying “the marathon will humble you.”
Other routes are famous for their difficulty, like the Boston Marathon. Las Vegas has run its marathon deep into the night, so competitors, and even loafers willing to pony up the entry fee, can see the desert city alive with lights.
Los Angeles has its own attractions, which emphasize its idiosyncrasies. The challenge, said Laurie Gestal, senior director of marketing for the McCourt Foundation, is fitting in all the attractions in one route.
“Finding 26.2 that is full of everything that everybody wants and what we as event organizers want is really tough,” she said. “It takes a lot of work to get 26.2 miles.”
But visibility, and what runners want to see most, hits the top of the list.
“We start at Dodger Stadium, the most Instagrammed place in the world,” she said.
The city has ample other landmarks known throughout the world. Among them is the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a portion of the race that runs through the much romanticized Beverly Hills.
It all contributes to a sense of place that only Los Angeles offers.
Runners have rewarded race operators. The race has seen steady increases in registration over the years, the major setback coming during COVID-19. Many race planners scrambled to figure out how to provide some value for already paid fees, or somehow remind runners that they would be back. The Los Angeles Marathon has managed to get people back to something resembling pre-pandemic numbers. While the last race about five months ago drew 13,000 off the normal date, this weekend is looking more promising. With 20,000 people registered, Gestal can see a path back to growing beyond previous attendance highs.
They’ve already set up registration for March 19, 2023, at an early bird cost of $159. That number will shoot up in the coming days. To what, Gestal isn’t sure.
Gestal said each marathon has its own brand with different tools to keep continuity from race to race. The Los Angeles Marathon keeps people coming back with incentives and by lauding the participation of runners who compete in consecutive races. She said roughly 5,000 people competing this weekend had competed in at least two races in a row. Then there are the Gold Star runners, 116 of them, who have been in every one of the soon-to-be 37 events in the marathon’s history. The marathon is pushing for a hall of fame, and will place gold stars commemorating the run of 15 of the most noteworthy contributors. Among those to be honored are husband-wife team Bill Burke and Marie Patrick, who founded the race in 1986 and ran in until 2004.
It’s one way the marathon attempts to applaud its most loyal attendees and add an extra personal touch to the race.
While Gestal said it’s important to highlight the geographic and regional advantages the race has, she doesn’t think runners are choosing one race over another.
“I don’t think of it as competition at all. Each race has its own uniqueness and I hope everyone does all of them,” she said.