Feeling the love in Los Angeles

What makes the Los Angeles Marathon a great race is not how fast the course is or the star power of the elite field it attracts. It’s the people of the City of Angels who make this race unique. Though the marathon is big, with around 25,000 starters, it’s way more accessible than one of the majors. Anyone who can afford the entry fee can run it, which means you get awesome representation from the crews, like Koreatown Run Club which brought 170 runners to the start line.

The weekend started with the Renegade Running pop-up. The Oakland running store set up temporary quarters on West Sunset Boulevard for a combined retail space and community centre; Mexican dancers celebrated Renegade’s Latino roots, and mindfulness facilitator Hakim Tafari performed a blessing after the ceremony. Putting intention into action, Renegade also sponsored 26 BIPOC runners in the marathon, providing them with coaching and kitting them out in custom Nike gear.

Speaking of the big swoosh, Nike sponsored the shake-out run on Saturday. The LA running community showed up in strength and we saw the power of the local crews. Which was the same on the course when it came to the main event on Sunday. The spectators were hyped and the cheer zones loud. Blacklist – let’s go! KRC – let’s go! Good Vibes – lets go! Run Hundred – let’s go!

Though Kenyan pros dominated the leaderboard, taking the top two spots in the men's field and the top spot in the women's race, fast amateurs, like those from LA crew Capri Collective, still managed to push their way into the top dozen or so spots. Which makes for a fascinating race to watch, camera in hand, for four or five hours.