From ‘legacy runners’ to Kenyan fans, voices from the 2024 LA Marathon

Along with the 25,000 participants in Sunday’s L.A. Marathon were also more than 200,000 spectators who lined the 26.2-mile route. Between participants and the spectators was a lot of goodwill.

There were the complete strangers encouraging runners to keep going. “You got this.” There were the relentless displays of resilience and the age-defying moments of awe. There was even the occasional tweaked lunch plan, because, well, Marathon.

All told, Sunday was quite a day in L.A., where tens of thousands of people united for a common goal. In the process, the moment often brought out the best in people, from the church group offering bananas to emergency workers tending to first aid. Here are a few voices, and images from a unique day.

They just keep going

For Masako Higuchi of Glendale, Sunday’s L.A. Marathon could be her last. The 82-year-old finished last year’s race at 11 hours and 36 minutes. But knee and back pain she suffered this year cast doubts on her crossing the finish line at Santa Monica Boulevard.

Still, Higuchi will earn a Golden Star as one of only 11 women in the ranks of Legacy Runners, participants who have run, walked or wheeled their way to the finish line of every marathon since 1986.

“My son was a torch runner in the 1984 Olympics, that’s how I got inspired,” Higuchi said last week, as she geared up for Sunday. “(I’ve learned) running is self-confidence.”

The 95 Legacy Runners, who range in age from 54 to 87, passed their 1,000th mile Sunday at Mile 4.

Kevin Cimarusti of Los Alamitos was there to commemorate the milestone with a photo. Himself a legacy runner until marathon No. 34, he waited for each legacy runner to pass through.

“I was 60 and just had double bypass surgery the day before the marathon, and I’d been training, but my doctor wouldn’t clear me to run,” Cimarusti said. “So now I’m supporting my Legacy brothers and sisters. Everyone has a different reason for doing it, but for me, it was competing against myself, see if I could do better.”

Cimarusti has 68 marathons under his belt and has also completed Iron Man competitions.

“Call it crazy or stupid or motivated, we just don’t know when to quit,” he said.

Brunch plans

Runners on Sunday also got a street view of different Los Angeles neighborhoods and landmarks, from Little Tokyo to the Art Deco L.A. City Hall, through Brentwood.

Conrad Liu groused about the downtown road closures and traffic congestion as he waited for his order of har gow and shu mai from Won Kok Restaurant in Chinatown. He said the race, which started at Dodger Stadium and ended at the Avenue of the Stars in Century City, is getting in the way of his Sunday brunch plans.

‘Just out here celebrating’

At Sunset Boulevard close to the course’s halfway point, Christine Kao and her friends rang cow bells and clapped for runners. A portable speaker played “Staying Alive” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”

“It doesn’t matter that I don’t know them,” she said as she high-fived and cheered marathoners as they passed through. “We’re just out here celebrating. I’m celebrating not running and having a real-life watch party instead.”

‘Battle through it’

Ivan Alvarado, 34, of La Habra picked up his gold bib the day before race day. The distinctive color (regular marathoners wear a green bib) signifies he is part of more than 8,000 LA Loyal runners, participants who run consecutive marathons.

Alvarado is running in his fifth LA Marathon. His time last year was 3:05:58. This year, he finished at 3:18:47.

“I got suckered into doing it by my brother-in-law, and I got to like the consistency of training,” he said. “The actual training is really fun. Pain happens, but you have to battle through it.”

His favorite part of the course is downtown with its flatter terrain, with Miles 19 through 22, traversing Santa Monica to Brentwood earning a “nasty” designation because of its rolling hills.

“But there’s a sense of pleasure after you’re done doing something so difficult,” Alvarado said. And a post-race Mexican meal from Javier’s on Santa Monica Boulevard helps too.

‘We run’

Thomas Kwaka Omollo, consul general of Kenya, brought a happy contingent of his countrymen to the finish line. They celebrated the first and second place wins in the men’s race and first-place victory in the women’s.

“We’re Kenyans, we run,” he said. “We run to the grocery, we run to church. So I’m here celebrating my country and my people, and embracing everyone in the world.”

Meet you at the finish line

At the finish line, Leslie Diaz of Valley Village, waited with gifts for her boyfriend James Lopez, completing his second L.A. Marathon: a bouquet of sunflowers, roses and daisies, as well as a lei and his favorite chili cheese Fritos and Sour Crawlers gummies.

“He’s very calm when he trains, and if ever, he complains of sore feet, but he says the adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment is why he does it,” Diaz said. “And I know after he just wants to take a nap.”

Learning to help others

Ednalyn Ferriol brought children from the Glendale Filipino Pathfinder Club, part of her church’s ministry to help hand out bananas to runners after the race.

“I want them to learn to help others in their community,” she said.

Allan Jay Garcia, his wife Che and their two sons finished Saturday’s LA Big 5K in a leisurely 30 minutes. This is the 13th Los Angeles Marathon for Garcia, a Fontana resident who is one of 28 marathon ambassadors, tasked with encouraging newbies and celebrating veterans.He shaved a minute off last year’s finish of 4 hours 50 minutes.“We outreach to all our communities providing guidance and inspiration and I’m so grateful to be in such a kind, caring and supportive group,” Garcia said. “The marathon brings our city together.”

Source: Orange County Register