City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)

Expo The expo was outside Dodger Stadium and was kind of confusing and a lot of walking to get to the actual entrance. There were loads of stalls and freebies, plus food. Since I had come straight from the airport, I needed to get a rideshare out but there wasn't a designated spot so it was more walking to get far away enough from the stadium to get picked up. Race morning I stayed near the finish line, so it was easy to get a shuttle from there to the start back at Dodger Stadium. I hadn't found any info about how long the ride would be, so I ended up being incredibly early. The only thing confusing was the corral set up - there were corrals A-E that you had to submit a qualifying time for, and then a massive open corral with incredibly fast people who then overtook the slower folks in the earlier corrals. Course Really fun course that went past lots of sights. It was pretty crowded for the first few miles especially since there were quite a lot of turns, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. There were some rolling hills but I didn't really notice them because there was so much to see and so many people cheering. It's always tough running past the finish and then doing an out-and-back, but the huge amount of cheering sure helped a lot. There was a good amount of entertainment on the course too, with a lot of variety: a string quartet in evening wear on rodeo drive, a killers tribute band, taiko drummers etc. Aid stations There were so many! It was great because it was sunny and pretty hot at the end, so having frequent water was very appreciated. Spectators were also handing out water, snacks, beer, ice towels. Finish line There was lots of food and ice towels and space blankets. The chute takes you straight past the bag drop trucks so it seemed really smooth. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the race, and loved the big city atmosphere. The organization was great, and was the best fun I've had in a marathon for years.

Amazing marathon experience being it was my first. Also, the route was not the same as it is now, I loved it.

Overall, I'm glad I ran it. Nice way to see a lot of Los Angeles. Great spectators for much of the race. Good food/drink support and volunteers. Expo is huge, befitting a big city marathon. Some negatives that hold it back from being a top-notch race: Understanding that there are probably logistics and permits that the general public isn't aware of, it seems like an odd decision to shuttle participants to the start-line and encourage parking in the city, when Dodger Stadium's parking lot would be tailor-made to welcome so many cars. Since it seemed like the half-marathon is de-emphasized in importance, count me as one that would prefer the race continue on to the coast and finish there, which would be so cool. Right now, miles 20-24 are the worst of the course - it's on beat-up pavement next to the freeway, and the course doubles back on itself. Would be cool to go to the coast! There is no shuttle back to the start, so I took the bus. The first 1/2 mile has a brutal descent off a hill out of Dodger Stadium, which trashed my quads early. It's a massive race, and if you get caught towards the back at the start-line, it takes a long-time to break free. I was on a sub-4 pace, but didn't have elbow room until mile 8-9. (This aint a PR race, too many hills and crowds.) The website could also be more comprehensive. Most of the FAQs are dismissive one-sentence answers, which is more frustrating than helpful. Overall, it was fine, but if you're looking for a California race, I imagine there are better ones out there.