Spirits run high at LA Marathon Expo as runners gear up for race day

If the L.A. Marathon is SoCal’s biggest running party, then the two-day pre-race expo at Dodger Stadium is an epic pre-game.

On a sunny Friday, March 15 afternoon, the stadium grounds were buzzing with excitement as racers old and new visited the fair to pick up their bibs, deck themselves out in marathon swag and peruse merchandise from the hottest brands in running.

Standing proudly among them was Huntington Beach resident Paul Brestyanszky, who at 81, is among the few participants with the bragging rights of having participated in every single L.A. Marathon. Sunday’s race will mark his 39th trip down the 26.2 mile course.

His loyalty to the marathon is paramount. Even a knee fracture couldn’t hold him back from participating in 2019, when he proudly completed the race on crutches.

“His enthusiasm is so inspiring, he feels like the legacy runners are his family,” said his wife Mila Cangelosi, touting a giant sign with Brestyanszky’s image on it. “He would never dream of not being in the marathon, he just loves it so much.”

Brestyanszky is particularly excited about this year’s race coinciding with Saint Patrick’s Day.

“I plan on going into my favorite bar along the way and having a Guinness in honor of St. Patrick and then continuing,” he said.

He’s also looking forward to meeting up with his fellow legacy runners, who have also run every L.A. Marathon since 1986, for their annual “DAB” — damage assessment brunch.

“There’s 96 of us left and one week after the marathon we get together to see how everybody did, if everybody made it,” he said. “It’s a tremendous time.”

Brestyanszky’s advice to first-time racers? Don’t worry about other people’s pace, get as much pleasure out of it as possible, and take at least one sip of water at every single aid station.

Culver City resident Christopher Neal is also well-versed in defying expectations on the course. He was as chipper as could be on Saturday as he picked up his free “LA Loyal” hat from the expo — a perk of running his ninth consecutive marathon.

“Every time I cross the finish line I feel such a sense of accomplishment, because I did something someone told me I’d never be able to do,” he said.

The lifelong runner and U.S. Navy veteran was once told that his right leg would need to be amputated due to an extreme case of varicose veins. Ultimately, after several surgeries he was able to keep the leg with just one vein, which makes both running the marathon and recovering from it more challenging.

“When I see other people walking or running with their head I’m always like, ‘Hey, pick your head up, I’m disabled, I’m still here, as long as you finish you have no reason to have your head down’,” Neal said. “I always like to uplift people around me while I run.”

His favorite race so far was in 2019, when he achieved a personal record (PR) of four hours and nineteen minutes.

“I remember seeing my dad at mile 25 and a half and I was just flying down the course and all these tears were running down my face, I couldn’t stop crying,” he said. “It was freaking awesome.”

Mary Ann Moreno, a fellow nine-year participant, was also all smiles as she volunteered at the expo with a group of girlfriends from her run club the Whittier Pacers.

“We give runners their bibs and it’s so amazing seeing their excitement, especially the first-timers or people that traveled from out of the state or even country. Some are even coming to the expo with their suitcase in hand!” she said. “We had so much fun volunteering last year that we got an even bigger group together this year and we’ll be back again next year.”

Moreno ran her first marathon at age 60 and keeps coming back, in part, because of the comradery in her run club.

“It’s an amazing free running group that takes walkers, joggers, crawlers and also really fast runners,” she said. “Running with them, pacing with them and learning how to run correctly has truly changed my life and kept me healthy.”

She and her fellow Whittier Pacers can’t wait for race day on Sunday, March 17 and will remain at the Avenue of the Stars finish line until their last member crosses.

Source: Orange County Register