Marathon Finds 21,000 Running Against the Wind

More than 21,000 competitors participated in the 16th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, a world-class distance race trailed by a 26-mile parade of sweating, cramping humanity, most as interested in a good time as how fast they moved.

On a day of strong winds and the threat of a rainstorm, Saul Mendoza, a 34-year-old Mexican, won a record fifth consecutive title in the men’s wheelchair competition.

“I’m a little bit tired, and very happy,” Mendoza said, minutes after crossing the finish line. “It was an amazing race.”

The cool, shifting winds produced a slow, bitterly fought race among three Kenyans. Comparing the race to a war, winner Stephen Ndungu, who left his father’s farm for a running career at the comparatively late age of 22, timed in at 2 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds.

That was more than a minute slower--an eternity in distance racing--than last year’s winning time and nearly four minutes off the record for the 26-mile, 385-yard course.

Ben Kimondiu, a 23-year-old Kenyan who lives in Philadelphia, finished second. Defending champion Benson Mutiisya Mbithi, also of Kenya, was third.

“It was such a competitive field,” said Ndungu, 33, “that I had to use my initiative to get away.”

The women’s winner, Elana Paramonova of Russia, a late and unexpected entrant, crossed the finish line on Flower Street just south of 5th Street in 2:36:58, more than 10 minutes slower than the 9-year-old course record.

The winning male and female runners take home $35,000 and a Honda Accord.

Ariadne Hernandez, a bronze medalist in the Sydney Olympics, won the women’s wheelchair race.

Despite gathering rain clouds, the race course was lined two and three deep in some places. The subway was jammed, as marathon watchers used the unusually crowded Red Line to shuttle between the Wilshire Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard and downtown sections of the course.

These fans provided a loud and occasionally profane audience for the thousands of runners, who, as the stars of this L.A. scene, often seemed less interested in speed and more intent on being seen.

Mexican runners carried Mexican flags. A British runner ran in skimpy shorts imprinted with the Union Jack. He smiled as he was ogled by male and female fans alike.

One competitor beat a drum as he ran in full Native American dress, another appeared as a Trojan warrior. Still another carried a walking billboard for his baking company with a loaf of bread firmly propped on his head.

Running Elvises were ubiquitous.

Radio stations broadcast music--from hip hop to Korean ballads--along the route, and a dozen norteno acts played the 12th mile. “The runners shouldn’t think, or they will think of pain,” said one of the singers, Jose Viernes, or Joe Friday to his American audiences. “The music takes your brains away.”

Fourteen triathletes, in exchange for Jamba Juice coupons, ran the marathon wearing banana costumes. “We tried to run together, in a bunch,” joked Jonathan Toker, 25, of San Diego. Paul Griffith, an electronics designer, donned a Superman shirt, a gimmick he has employed in marathons all over the country.

“I do it just to get people to say, ‘Hey, Superman,’ in every imaginable language” explained Griffith. “It’s a cheap way to get people to cheer you on.”

For the competitive runners, Saturday’s head winds slowed the pace.

“Today reminds you that finishing is what the marathon is all about,” said Juerg Stalder, a top Swiss 10,000-meter runner who at age 30 is switching to marathons. At the 16th mile, he contemplated quitting. “But I told myself I have to run through Hollywood, and then it seemed like such a very long way back to the hotel, I might as well run.”

He finished 12th.

This year’s course--which is expected to change in 2002--provided a view of Los Angeles that might be more familiar to tourists than to a native of the San Fernando Valley.

It began and ended near the Central Library downtown, winding south to Exposition Park, stretching west through the Crenshaw district, lingering in Koreatown, and turning finally east at Mann’s Chinese Theatre. It crossed through ethnic neighborhoods and featured landmarks from the Coliseum to West Angeles Church of God in Christ to the Art Deco Pantages Theater.

For much of the way, the course closely follows the subway. With organizers advertising the Red Line as a way to see the race, fans held a subway marathon of sorts. Frantic family members and supporters tried to navigate an unfamiliar underground transportation system in an effort to catch sight of their loved ones.

Candace Silvers of Beverly Hills said she was familiar with the streets of downtown Los Angeles--but only by car. After receiving conflicting directions from police officers and taxicab drivers, Silvers, 39, began to cry as she struggled to find a station. Fortunately, hundreds of other confused fans showed up and she eventually found the right platform.

“It’s an easy, fast way to get around,” said Bernie Schultz of Westlake Village, standing in the subway with her family. They were on their way to the Hollywood/Vine station, in the 19th mile, to cheer her daughter on for the third time that morning. “You see the same groups of people from stop to stop. There’s a sense of camaraderie and everyone gets lost together.”

The subway was also handy for the small contingent of dejected runners who dropped out before the finish line. With an injured calf, 40-year-old Dana Taylor had a premonition he wouldn’t finish and decided to drop out at mile 13. Standing next to him on the Red Line was his friend Lauren Cepeda, 35, who also left the race early.

“This rocks, the subway,” Cepeda said.

The runners, about 17,000 of whom were expected to finish, paid entry fees that start at $55 (there’s a $5 senior discount) to punish their bodies over the course.

To pull it off, the race required 12 corporate sponsors, 218 police officers, 40,000 medals (Every finisher of the run and a dawn bicycle tour of the course received one.), and 185,000 safety pins to keep their race numbers attached to shorts and shirts.

Both on and off the course, the race is increasingly dominated by organized groups, as interested in making a point as they are in being part of the race.

At Hollywood Boulevard and Taft Avenue, a local Buddhist group pushing world peace set up speakers, Japanese drums and a mixer in a 7-11 parking lot to cheer on runners.

“Some of the runners have stopped and started dancing,” said Stephanie Araiza, a volunteer with Soka Gakkai International, the Buddhist association.

More than 100 runners clubs fielded teams Sunday. A group of teenagers from Los Angeles area schools tackled the course in packs. One of them, 18-year-old Martin Coronado from Rio Hondo College, finished in three hours and five seconds, despite cramps that forced him to walk the last mile.

The Korean American Running Team, based in Pasadena, brought 50 runners, including 10 first-timers. In the five years the team has entered, every one of its runners completed the marathon. The streak survived this year, with runner Jae Bok Kim, a 67-year-old grandmother, providing inspiration.

“Anyone can run a marathon,” said team leader Peter Kim. “But it’s much easier if you are part of a team, and have group support in training.”

At the finish line, Wally Brumbalow, 56, waited three hours and 27 minutes for Pat, his wife of 32 years, to complete her 52nd marathon. Greeting her with roses and a hug, the retired Marine from Twentynine Palms said he hasn’t missed one of her races. Not even out of breath, Pat, a former schoolteacher, said she runs seven to 10 miles every day. This is her 14th L.A. marathon and she has competed as far away as Alaska, Nova Scotia and Hawaii.

“It keeps me healthy and it keeps me sane, I think,” said Brumbalow, 59, glowing.

By 2:30 p.m, nearly six hours after the race started, the Los Angeles police reopened streets that had been closed for the parade. Straggling runners had to stop for traffic lights. The finish line was to remain open until 8 p.m. Runners finishing later than that would have to record the moment for themselves.